Sasuke vs Blue Eyes
by Kimimaro2
Summary: Doesn't he have strange eyes? All blue and… blue. He knew they would haunt him, that's why he had to make him his. SasuNaru. Last chapter delayed. boyxboy
1. Chappie 1

I tried to write a Sasu-Naru ...Tell me what you think and I'll update.

* * *

Sasuke rested his head and back at the tree with his eyes closed.

He could feel the sun's heat on his legs, and pulled them into the shadowy area where he sat. Thank god for creating trees and forests. He breathed with difficulty as the hot summer day reached the warmest point, and then (painfully slow) getting cooler. But it would take a while for the sun to give up and go to rest. Several hours of sweating and dehydration still lay ahead. Hours of heat, where the smartest move was to stay inside. If you had a good ventilation system, that is.

Sakura and Naruto were going over the long list of excuses that a special sensei might try to pull if he actually came. Kakashi had proved himself heartless by taking them out there, saying that any weather was good training weather. And that, if you wore the right clothes, nothing could stop you. Sasuke snorted, getting a puzzled look from each of the shinobis by his side (which he totally missed).

Yeah, sure. He would rather prefer to wear _no _clothes, than the right ones right now.

If the were any right clothes. Maybe there wasn't. Damn that Kakashi, he always got everyone to think of stupid and irrelevant things! And the worst thing was that he probably knew that. That lazy show-off.

He sighed and shifted position where he sat, still with his eyes closed. Would the bastard ever show up? He scowled, 'cause when he thought about it, Kakashi was beginning to sound like Gai when it came to training. No one would even try to move in this weather. They must have spent too much time together. All those meaningless contests and stuff.

He opened one eye to see what was going on with his teammates, seeing that Naruto stuck out his tongue at Sakura, saying something that could barely be heard, and earning a very loud slap in his face. The every day talk, then.

He would never try to admit it, but he loved his teammates more than anything. Well, he didn't really want to use the word "love", but it seemed to fit in rather well. He cared about them. Although they always irritated and pissed him off, there was something familiar about them that made him feel at home, or less alone. Not that he were ever alone. But… mentally. And now, when he had discovered feelings for one of them that went beyond friendship, he cared more and more for them both.

And so anger started pulsing through his body. _Kakashi was _so_ going to regret this_. Getting them out here, and on a Sunday, too. He threw a quick glance at his clock. 12.30. Great. One hour late already. Where the hell was he?! According to Naruto, the town must have had an ice cream crisis, and Tsunade just _had_ to send Kakashi to the Sand village for more. What the hell? But, yeah, okay, it was possible that that kind of scenario would occur. Seeing that if Konoha ever ran out of ice cream, Kakashi would be the one Tsunade would send out on such an, um, _important_ mission. Much to his own winning.

But Sakura's proposal was far more likely. She snorted and said that the bookshop probably got another Icha Icha book, and while reading it, Kakashi lost himself on the road of life. The usual, boring stuff. _Surprise me._

Anyway, here they were, in the shadow of a tree, hiding and desperately trying to escape nature in its element, somewhere in the sunburnt Fire-country. And somewhere, a jounin happily read his book, unknown of the hatred that flooded out of his three students, directed right at him. Or maybe he was. Damned that bastard!

"Ma, ma, Sasuke!"

Sasuke glared at the source of the most irritating voice ever. Naruto. He was flapping his arms like some kind of bird, trying to gain his attention. How could he be so lively when it was so damn _hot_?! Sakura seemed to be thinking the same thing, only her look was far more deadly than Sasukes.

"What do you want, baka?"

Totally ignoring the insult, Naruto calmed down and let his arms rest at his sides.

"What do you think Kaka-sensei will say? I bet my money on the ice cream!"

"He won't say anything." He turned his head away from Naruto and closed his eyes again. "Because as soon as he comes here, I'll kill him"

Naruto thought about that for a moment and then gave up, shrugging. He left Sasuke and his scary thoughts alone for the time being.

Though barely a minute had gone when Sasuke felt something heavy on his legs. He didn't need to open his eyes to know that it was Naruto's head. This might seem a bit strange, but lately, Naruto had grown fond of resting his head, not in his lap, but on Sasukes legs. And he when Sasuke hadn't pulled away (at least not the tenth and eleventh time he tried it) Naruto made it his favourite spot. Sasuke didn't remember when it started, but he knew that it made his fan girls go crazy, and that was enough for him. At least that's was what he told himself. And yeah, it must look weird.

Sasuke felt at ease when he was near his best friend. Their relationship might seem strained, like they were balancing on a thin thread, were the slightest move could make it snap. But no, this friendship was made to outlive any other. And that was the reason Sasuke got up in the morning.

Naruto and Sakura were still talking, but Sasuke barely listened. He was drifting of to sleep when Sakura stood up angrily and darted off. Possibly to look for Kakashi. Sasuke felt no need to get up and help her, so he relaxed once more against the tree. He was fine like this. After ten or fifteen minutes without any Sakura or Kakashi, something in the warm and comfortable atmosphere changed. Sasuke looked up suspiciously. He couldn't tell what it was, but something … He looked down at Naruto and blinked a few times. Naruto's breath had evened, and the steady rise and fall of his chest didn't have that hyper speed like it always had. Sasuke studied him with a frown. Naruto… fell asleep? Awkward.

After a couple of seconds, something warm spread through his chest. _He must feel very… safe to fall asleep like this. _He didn't know if 'safe' was the right word, but then again, this _was_ an awkward situation. He looked up; scanning the area, but no one was to be seen. He then did what he had wanted to for so long. And yes, Naruto's hair was much softer than he ever could have imagined.

Oh God, that boy was too adorable when he slept.

He didn't know when his feeling towards to fox boy grew so intense and needing. But he did know that even if Naruto always found ways to piss him off, nothing could make him dislike him or make him feel uncomfortable. He was just sad that Naruto was so unaware of this.

It had been so long since love had any place in Sasukes heart. But then, when he was teamed up with Sakura and Naruto, things had changed. At first, he thought he actually did love Sakura, but it hadn't seemed right. He knew himself better than that, and he was far more complicated than he wanted to be. And now he loved this blond, loud and pure boy more than anything. Just because. No more, no less. And the crazy thing was that he felt so damn good about it. It felt good to be feeling, _to be alive_, when situations like this showed up. Naruto really had the gift to change people, and to the better. He stroked some golden locks away from Naruto's face, leaving that innocent and almost childish face to be admired. Sasuke shifted position, careful not to wake the sleeping beauty. But the numbness in his legs didn't want to go away. Hell he was heavy. Oh, shit. Well, whatever, if anyone saw them like this, they could get ideas and rumours and fan girls crying like babies wasn't something Sasuke longed for. And he had to wake up sometime. Surely. Sasuke sighed and continued to study the other ones face. Doesn't he have strange eyes? All blue and… blue. It was like those eyes… like they couldn't hide anything. There was no shadow in these lovely oceans of… blue. They didn't reflect the pain and loneliness that Naruto must have felt. Must feel.

What wouldn't he give for having the chance to…

Oh no. Oh hell no.

Sasuke wanted to smack himself. _Baka. Ahou._ If he could see right in to those eyes, right now...

Then wouldn't it be logical if the owner of those eyes could look right into his?

"Sasuke?" Exactly

He wanted to disappear into the earth.

_I was caught. Hell no!_

* * *

I wonder how he'll talk himself out of this one...?

God I'm tired. Hope I didn't make any fatal spelling mistake. I am my own beta. And if I did; sorry. My bad. I think I'll go to bed now... If I get there before falling asleep... Wait and...and...what is it that you say? Wait and...? Well, you'll have to wait for the update anyway. Godnatt, Sverige. And dear readers. If I have any. (Oh shut up, Emmy) I will. I promise. (-my birthday is just a week away-) That's not an exuse.

So, now.

G'night


	2. Chappie 2

A/N:

So, as you may have guessed, this is the second chapter. I finished the first one somewhere around midnight (though my mother insists on that the clock was around two in the morning) and then shut down my computer and went to sleep. And this was my time, which would be the Swedish time-zone. When I woke up this morning- or a few hours later- I borrowed my mothers laptop (why is it that everyone in my family has one, and I don't?) and got a real surprise. I had no idea that I would get reviews that quick, or any at all.

My point is; Thank you, dear readers! The sun seemed to warm a little extra today!

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"Uh… Naruto."

Two eyes stared up at him, almost making him jump.

"…What…exactly are you…"

"Um... I…uh…" Sasuke, the cool, always calm and bored Uchiha, _stuttered_ and _blushed_, for crying out loud!

"…doing?" Naruto finished his question, confusedly.

Oh, really, that was it. Sasuke stood up, making Naruto fall on the ground with a surprised yelp. He actually reminded Naruto of a certain Hyuuga girl.

"Whaa….what do you think I was doing, you self-absorbed little" Sasuke said, desperately looking for an appropriate word in his vocabulary. "…thing?!" was how it turned out in the end, though.

Naruto frowned. Was this some sort of joke? A henge, perhaps?

"Are you sick? You didn't get a heat stroke or something, did you?"

Sasuke saw his chance and took it.

"Ah! Un, that I've… got. And it's all because of you, dobe! If you hadn't been lying on my… I couldn't move, got it?!"

Naruto blinked a few times, trying to get the words right in his far too hot head.

Boy, it was warm today!

And, whoa, was Sasuke, like, accusing him of something? He scratched the back of his head, where the ground had hit him. Ah, something wasn't right here! Nuh-uh!

But before he could do anything for real, Sasuke was far away, cursing his sensei under his breath and looking like he might drown himself in the nearest lake (though there was almost none in Konoha that hadn't dried out).

Naruto sat under the once green tree for almost fifteen minutes before he stood up and shook his head.

Waking up with an Uchiha in his face was scary, but seeing Sasuke freak out like that? And that face... He shivered, suddenly cold. This couldn't be a good omen. Nuuuh-uh. He frowned, wondering how long that murderous, unstable and… well, how long Sasuke had been watching him.

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Kakashi looked up from his book and sneezed. He looked around when he didn't recognize the surroundings. What the hell?!

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Naruto waited for his ramen with a grimace of great displeasure. And it wasn't because of the heat.

He just didn't get it. Why had Sasuke been staring at his face like that? He'd tried everything, and yet, he had no answer. This was just getting weirder and weirder.

Before he left the tree where they had sat, he did a Kage Bushin to see if he had anything on his face. No, nothing apart from the usual. A little scar that hadn't healed just yet, but hey, that was from a branch he ran into earlier. Or, the branch kinda just appeared before him.

But, no, it couldn't be that. He checked the Bushin to see if there was anything else. Maybe Sasuke had played a trick on him. Some practical joke...? But, nah, that wouldn't be like him.

He did another Bushin and positioned them against the tree; he even transformed one of them to a perfect henge of Sasuke. But the only thing that was a bit off was his t-shirt, that exposed a little of the sealing mark on his stomach (only if he was lying down, mind). But Sasuke had been looking at his face.

And he just couldn't get that part out of his mind! He'd always known that Sasuke was strange, but hell, this certainly took the price.

He was drawn out of his thoughts by the Ichiraku owner, who told him his ramen was ready. He thanked him and began to slurp it up. He was alone in the stall. Nobody seemed to want hot ramen when they felt like overcooked noodles themselves.

Naruto sighed, a heartbreaking sigh that made the owners daughter turn around and look at him.

A voice in his head told him that he was being silly. But come on, his eternal rival had been staring at his face for god knows how long while he was asleep! Instead of listening to that voice in his head, he began planning for his next move. He'd never listened to it anyway.

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Sasuke closed the door to his apartment and locked it. He was finally able to smack his face and groan. Okay, so it was quite a while ago that he accepted that he had feeling for the Kyuubi-host. He'd gotten used to the almost-blushes and jumps that his heart did when Naruto entered a room. He'd adapted.

But he hadn't been prepared for the consequences his blue eyes brought. Sasuke usually avoided looking Naruto in his eyes, making the boy feel utterly ignored and looked down on.

He went over to the refrigerator and took out a bottle of some cold liquid. He leaned his head against the cold surface of the refrigerator and held the bottle against the blood-vein in his neck. This whole thing was insane! Since that incident, he'd been unable to think about anything else than those wonderful and soft, though somehow sharp, eyes.

Although blue and innocent they didn't reveal much. Ah, well, sure they did, one always knew what kind of mood Naruto was in just by looking at him, into his eyes, but they didn't reveal Naruto's…Naruto's…. Sasuke groaned and threw himself on his bed. What on earth was he babbling about?

"What the hell, Sasuke? What is happening to you?" he murmured and sighed.

But really, it was something with those blue eyes. Sasuke felt like screaming out loud and pulled a pillow over his head. He got a strong deja vú feeling about those thoughts. He felt like a love-sick schoolgirl. Lame. Lame.

He slowly sat up after a minute, pinching the back of his nose, trying to think clear. Okay. Naruto had been sleeping in his lap. No, on his legs, somewhere around knee-level. Big difference. So what would this lovely kitsune think?

Sasuke tried to imagine what Naruto might try to confront him with. First of all, Sasuke stood up and looked himself in the mirror. He was doomed if he had looked anything else than bored. He could only hope he hadn't. Why did he have to freak out like that? It was too damn obvious. He didn't want Naruto to find out that he loved him. Not like this.

Naruto was ready to do something dramatic. He had wandered around town all day, trying to gain some inspiration. But he still wasn't close to find out what really happened earlier. So when the clock was near five, he gave up. Not gave up as in gave up, but as in gave up the senseless wandering.

He sat down under a tree in an almost deserted park. He looked into the sunset and thought hard. People who happened to pass by could almost literary see grey smoke rise from his ears.

He'd been sitting there thinking for almost an hour when a little girl out walking with her mum could have sworn that she saw a lamp being lit somewhere above his head.

A few hand-moves (and a bleeding thumb) later, a Kage Bushin and a little red frog appeared in front of him. The little (though surprisingly big) frog coughed out smoke with a surprised little yelp. Naruto looked at him with a look on his face that would resemble any ones mother when catching kids with their hands in the cookie jar.

"Don't tell me you've been smoking your fathers' pipe again, Gamakichi?"

A faint shadow of red appeared on what could be the frogs already red cheeks.

"Oi, state your business, brat."

"I need help."

The frog coughed a final time and laughed bitterly, half-choked.

"Yeah, yeah, surprise me sometime, will ya?"

Naruto grinned at his old friend.

"It has been a while, huh?"

"Has it?"

Naruto glared at him.

"Something tells me you haven't missed me."

"I'm hurt. Who wouldn't miss you, little fox?"

Naruto rolled his eyes and quickly told Gamakichi about everything that happened earlier, with the Shadow clone to fill in where Naruto had forgotten. The frog sat quiet the entire time. He didn't want to admit, but he looked at Naruto as a friend.

"So, now you're wondering why Sasuke was staring at you."

"Exactly."

The frog seemed to fall into deep thought.

"Well...that is a good question."

Naruto nodded eagerly.

"You know you sleep with your mouth open, and that you snore often?"

Naruto paled.

"How would you know?!"

The frogs grin widened.

"That's another very good question."

Naruto glared at him. Then he sighed and lay down on the sunburnt grass. The sun was setting and the sky was painted in rose-red and pink. A cloud, looking like a mouse or whatever, floated by above him, apparently content with the way the world acted.

"Well, I guess... I guess I'll just have to let it go. It not like he's going to tell me anyway, right? But it's just…that look on his face. I can't get it out of my head! It's so not Sasuke."

The shadow clone put up a sad face and sighed. The frog seemed a bit freaked out to be sitting with two depressed Naruto's'.

"Hm, yeah. You don't suppose he likes you?"

"Sure, we like each other. But that's nothing you..."

It took a while for him to understand what the frog really meant. He got up and stared at Gamakichi for a minute with his mouth open, much like a fish actually. The frog wondered if he was gonna survive dinner.

"Y-You! Sas...? No!"

"Yeah, yeah, but didn't you just say you liked each other?"

Naruto waved his hand furiously, as if he tried to wipe the thought away,

"Tsk, we're friends. There's a difference, you know. Besides, he has half of the village kunoichis' as a fan club, and the rest of the civilians. Even some boys! Why would-"

A bored, I-don't-really-even-want-to-be-here-so-make-it-quick look from the frog shut him up. He was about to say something, but he couldn't find the words.

Finally, he turned the other way and waved his hand a final time.

"Argh, you silly old frog. Go home. I need to think."

The frog grinned again (or did he just never stop?).

"Ja ne!"

"Hn."

And the frog was gone. The clone and Naruto lay down once more on the grass and waited for the sun to set, both apparently in deep thought.

Naruto woke up at the time of five a clock. He'd been tossing and turning all night, finally fallen asleep at three and then woken up two hours later. He stayed in bed for an hour, but then frustrated threw the sheets away when he started sweating.

He drew the curtains away and found himself staring into a burning hot sun. He frowned. He felt a terrible headache coming. Probably from too little sleep and too much thinking. He took a quick shower and put on some clothes. He paid a visit to his refrigerator, but it wasn't many eatable things in there, and he didn't have the heart to kill those small life forms that had somehow started living in there. Probably mutants from the far too old cheese. He decided that a visit to Ichiraku would do good, and maybe some shopping at the end of the day.

He tied his hitae-ate to his forehead and opened the door. Stepping out on the crowded street, he found Genma and Raidou walking together. He was just about to say hello when Genma snuck his arm around Raidou's waist and placed a kiss on his neck. Naruto paled and was about to run, or flee, whichever you choose, when Genma spotted him.

"Oh, Naruto-kun! On your way to Ichiraku?"

Naruto nodded with difficulty.

"U-un. A boy need breakfast so, ah, well, s-see ya!"

Raidou and Genma stared at the spot where Naruto had been standing just a second ago.

"What was that?" A curious Raidou asked. Genma shrugged.

"I don't know, love. Maybe he was hungry."

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When Naruto reached the ramen stall, he was breathing hard from all the running. The ramen owner placed a bowl in front of him as if he'd been waiting for the young man. Naruto nodded thanks and started eating. But he choked when Izumo and Kotetsu walked by, hand in hand.

"Yo, Naruto. You shouldn't eat so fast, you know."

Naruto coughed and stared at them. Izumo frowned.

"Something the matter, Naruto?"

Naruto shook his head fiercely.

Kotetsu looked at his clock and squeezed Izumo's hand.

"We need to hurry, or the Hokage's gonna throw more than just a chair out of her window!"

"Oh, right. Well, see you around Naruto, and take it easy with the ramen!"

Naruto's eyes widened. What was going on in Konoha?!

He finished his ramen and started to walk towards the bridge, trying not to look any other way than straight forward. But suddenly, he saw couples all over the place. He started running again when Shino and Kiba, who'd been standing in the shadows of a house doing... Well, never mind, but you can't really blame him. That's just not sane.

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Sakura arrived at the bridge two minutes late (not that anyone except Sasuke was there to tell about it). She leaned at the rail, a bit out of breath after running.

"Ohayo, Sasuke-kun!"

"Mm."

Sakura glared at him. What the hell was he so grumpy about? That self-absorbed bastard. When she thought about it, he'd never said 'Good morning' or even a 'Hi' to her, and he never smiled, either. What was his problem? Just because he was much better at the ninja arts than most of the villagers! There's no need to look down at everyone! Someone should tell him that straight to his face. Hell yeah!

"Hey, it couldn't hurt if you were even a bit nice once in a while, Sasuke!"

It took her a full two seconds to pale and slam her hands over her mouth. She didn't just say that to Sasuke? Did she?!

Sasuke was as surprised as she was. Could it be that his fan club (because Sakura was something of a president in said club) started to lose interest in him? Fortunately, that was the moment where Naruto decided to show up. Sasuke looked away, not ready to meet his gaze. When Naruto decided to sit down just a meter from him, Sasuke paled too. Though Naruto didn't seem to notice, probably because he was in what some people would call 'chock'.

So, when Kakashi finally arrived, he found his three students deathly pale, one with her hands still tightly around her mouth, one staring into the air like he just seen a ghost tap-dancing and not knowing whether to laugh or cry about it, and one who tried to look bored, but just ending up wide-eyed and with his mouth so tightly shut that his lips were practically none-existent.

Kakashi debated with himself if he shouldn't just run back to his lovely dolphin and sleep for the rest of the day.

TBC

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Okay guys, this was it. And I'm not happy about it. It didn't turn out well. But the next chapter will (hopefully). Though, I don't know when that will be. I won't be able to write in the coming week; too much homework and school stuff. And my birthday are on Friday the 16th (which is also my fathers birthday - god help us), and there's some party going on among my friends, probably on Saturday. And our relatives will most likely be coming here from Stockholm. Well, we'll see each other somewhere in the future (if I survive my cousins, that is… wish me good luck)

And thank you, TheCamoSquirrel. Birthdays are something special. To have the feeling that everything in the world is about you for just one day is something wonderful!

Live Long and Prosper

Shikams


	3. Chappie 3

-Puh-

Now it's done. I'm sorry for the delay and all... but then again, I have a lot of homework and school stuff that I just can't ignore for much longer.

-O-

Chappie 3

-O-

Their missions for the day were over, and the three students parted as fast as they could. The day had been frankly speaking tough for team 7. It wasn't the missions, who'd been far to easy and almost insulting stupid, but the thing was, Sakura tried to avoid being near Sasuke, Naruto tried to avoid any contact of any kind with him and yet observe him without his knowledge (which was impossible, of course), and Sasuke himself wanted to be as far away as possible of both of them. And when he felt Narutos ever so blue eyes in his neck, he became more and more of a nervous wreck. Tricky. Kakashi thought he would go mad by lunch time (and the only reason he didn't was because he had one of Iruka's home-made lunchboxes to feast on).

So when the day was over everyone hurried home and locked their doors. Naruto maybe a little too fast, cause he forgot that he'd promised himself to go shopping. He groaned, just a couple of feet away from the safety inside doors of his apartment. But he sighed and went out on the streets again. As he walked, he tried not to think about anything that had to do with Sasuke or the sudden amount of gay ninjas in Konoha, but that was more than useless.

The question "what if?" bounced around in his head, like some goddamn ball, always hitting the walls, and never slowing down.

-O-

Sasuke looked at his watch. Too early to go to sleep. And he wasn't even tired. It was just… He had nothing better to do. He'd eaten, trained and showered. He was now sure that time itself was against him. Everything was against him. And he wasn't paranoid! Everything had gone wrong today.

He lay down on his bed and sighed. Another night with another dream lay ahead. Every night for almost an entire year, Naruto came to haunt him in any way possible as soon as he closed his eyes and went to sleep. How long would he be forced to withstand those faint memories that weren't even real? How long until he could have him for real in his arms? He got up and stared out through his bedroom window. The sun was setting. Perhaps a walk couldn't hurt…

-O-

Naruto carried his bags with difficulty. While at the shop, he'd remembered that he didn't only need this, but also that, and then there was that thing over there that couldn't hurt to have at home. This of course resulted in a very light wallet and several shopping bags to carry all the way home. And Naruto wasn't feeling happy either. And something was poking out from one of the bags, making his chest hurt. There are ninja-techniques that are specialized in the art of carrying stuff (everything from bodies and corpses to ice-cream and dangerous chestnuts). Strangely, no one ever thought of teaching Naruto that kind of stuff. Hence the harsh feelings.

He cursed himself for not calling Iruka earlier on the day, because he was most probably busy with either school-and-teacher-stuff, or this new person… Naruto frowned. There was a time when he new all about Iruka and his life, but lately, he'd found himself wondering about the openhearted chunnin. They didn't meet quite as often anymore, and when they did, Iruka never told him anything about what was going on in his life, he only asked about Naruto and his training. But he did know that Iruka had met someone. He was a bit sad that Iruka hadn't told him about it, but then again, why should he? It wasn't like he told Iruka everything. They weren't even related or something. He didn't want to admit that he was feeling hurt.

He was good at denial, especially when it came to the feelings and people he held closest to his heart.

-O-

Sasuke walked with his head bent down in a typical teenage way. He didn't know where he was going.

He stopped for a second to watch the sunset. No word can describe the beauty of a sunset. He closed his eyes and wished that he would have someone, anyone, to share it with. He wished that for this one time in his life, he would have someone to be there for and take care of. Have someone who took care of him. Once. Just like that, in a simple way.

He was about to leave when something hit his toe. He looked down, and found a stone. A grey one. Medium size. About as big as his palm. Pretty boring. He blinked. So this was what the heavens sent him. How wonderful. Why just not send him a rock at Christmas? Or even a little mountain on his birthday?

He kicked the stone angrily and sent it flying several meters ahead. Bloody stone! He continued to walk, and the stone was soon enough in front of him once more. He gritted his teeth. If that's what it wanted, then Sasuke certainly wouldn't mind! He kicked the stone again. And again. And again. And again…

-O-

It just so happens that Yamato was out walking at the same time as Sasuke met his heaven-sent comforter, and he didn't even get surprised by seeing the Uchiha (totally oblivious of the jounins presence) kicking and jumping on something that looked a lot like very ordinary grey stone. He shook his head and quickly left the scene. He'd never said that liked the Uchihas. Rather the opposite, actually (and the molesting of a certain substantive didn't make things better).

-O-

It was dark when Sasuke reached the Uchiha mansion. He searched for his keys while kicking the stone like a football against the wall.

"You're an insignificant thing. No one cares about a stone! Don't you get it? There's nothing for you here in this world! People look at you, but they don't really see you. Why don't you just give up? Huh? I, at least, have someone to love. You don't. Never will either."

He opened the door and went in. It was dark. Quiet. He closed the door. He suddenly felt the urge to race back out again and… and what? Pick up the stone? He chuckled and went straight to his bedroom. He started to undress, only feeling a bit uncomfortable. But the feeling grew as he put on his pyjamas trousers (those with the Pokemon-globes on – they reminded him of the Uchiha clan symbol). He crushed down on the bed, ignoring the covers and sheets. It was too hot, even inside. He sighed, suddenly so sleepy. He closed his eyes, muttering something about victory and defeat. Sleep was soon upon him…

-O-

_Naruto sat down on his bed. Sasuke could hear the rustled of his clothes as he leaned closer, bending over Sasuke._

"…_Sasuke…" _

_Hi__s voice was soft and low. Sasuke looked up into his eyes as he felt Narutos lips moving down from his ear, jaw line and to his mouth. The blue eyes filled his view. They grew larger and larger. It started to make him uncomfortable. Sasuke tried to move away as the Eyes little by little lost their blue colour and changed…Narutos lips felt different. Sasuke tried to scream as the Eyes went from ocean-blue to stony grey…He started to shiver in fear when the once soft lips felt rough and hard against his. He stared at the stone he once mocked, feeling smaller and smaller…_

Sasuke sat up in his bed, shaking. He shook his head, tried to calm down. He wondered if it was safe to get out of bed.It was dark... But no, he was an Uchiha. And a ninja. Hell… yeah. He rushed out of the bed, ran through the house, opened the door and picked up the stone, and in the same motion slammed the door shut again. He was back in bed in two seconds. He smiled dejectedly and with the small, grey and now not so lonely stone in a tight grip. When he fell asleep again, he didn't dream anything. Bloody stone.

_We're too __like each other to be left alone..._

-O-

Naruto woke up by instinct. Something was off. He slowly opened his eyes and scanned his bedroom. Clear. But something was moving around in his house. He quietly put his feet down on the floor, careful not to make any sound with the sheets or clothes (he slept in boxers, thank you very much – and the nightcap was too warm, by the way). He sneaked over the bedroom floor, and stood completely still by the door. When he didn't hear anything, he looked around the corner. Mm, so the intruder must be in the kitchen. Naruto frowned, wide awake by this time. Who the hell would aim for his kitchen? It was common sense – no one wanted anything to do with Narutos kitchen. Not a thing. Really.

Pressed to the wall, he advanced forward, wishing that he actually kept a weapon underneath his pillow, like any movie character. But this was reality. Un.

He took a deep breath, and thought that perhaps he would get famous for fighting whatever bad-ass ninja that was violating his kitchen. The only thing he worried about was that if he died, no one would be there to tell the tale…

He bursted out in the kitchen, to find that the lone, not so noble intruder, was a dog. A _dog_. A _doggy._ Naruto groaned and dropped the ready-to-fight-guy pose (not too different from the famous nice-guy pose).

"Pakkun. That's my refrigerator, you know."

The dog in question froze, halfway through a meat-pie Naruto bought the other night. Then he put a sligthly dignified look on his wrinkled face. The effect was lost, though, because of the crumbs.

"Hey, I'm doing you a favour by coming here."

Naruto leaned against the doorpost, ready to go back to sleep in an instant if the message was unimportant. He didn't seem to mind the dog, strangely.

"I really hope so. Though I should guess my refrigerator begs to differ. But, by all means, go on, doggy."

The dog glared at him for a moment. He finally left the pie and jumped up on the table.

"Tsunade has a mission for you."

Naruto blinked. Oh, well…

"And you needed to tell me that five o'clock in the morning… because..?"

The dog sighed tiredly.

"Because, you need to leave right away. Aka, now. She told you to bring your ninja stuff and the usual, and get going."

"The usual, huh?"

"That's what she said."

Naruto felt energy flow through his body. A mission! A mission to prove his skills and…

"She told you to bring Sasuke too."

It felt like a rock hit him in his stomach. Sasuke…

But then again, maybe could he find out more about Sasuke if they were alone. Maybe everything would be clearer if he spent some time with the young Uchiha. It couldn't hurt, right?

-O-

Sasuke buried his face deeper in his pillow. What day was it today? Ah, didn't matter. He sighed happily. It felt like he was lying on clouds. And it wasn't that unbearable hot. I think I'm starting to like this day. He sighed again and drifted back to sleep. He could feel himself smile uncontrollably.

-O-

Naruto ran over rooftops and buildings towards the last Uchiha mansion. He didn't know why he was so excited about it, but he really looked forward to this mission. He landed on a balcony outside what seemed to be a bedroom. He saw someone in the bed and frowned.

"So the lazy bastard's still asleep, huh?"

He opened the unlocked window and jumped down on the floor. Boy, he must be sleeping hard! The Sasuke he knew was a very light sleeper and almost impossible to sneak up on. He leaned over the bed and frowned. Sasuke was smiling like a little happy child. The sun shone upon his face and somehow... he wasn't so cool and scary anymore. Not that he ever thought of Sasuke as scary, but Naruto found himself smiling at the sight. Perhaps...

Naruto ducked as a kunai with the speed of lightning flew at his head. But he wasn't quick enough, and the kunai grazed his chin. He blinked. If he'd been a second slower, he would also have been a head shorter. When he blinked again, he was trapped in the arms of a muscular Sasuke, who was holding another kunai at his throat. The realisation dawned upon him.

"What the hell Sasuke? You sleep with weapons underneath your pillow for real?!"

The arms trapping him went stiff, and Sasuke released him, quickly shoving him away.

Naruto massaged his neck and glared at him. Sasuke glared back.

"Hn. Suit yourself, do-"

But then he saw the blood trickle down Narutos chin. Sasuke froze and felt like sinking through the floor, never to be seen again. He... did that? He hurt... Naruto?

Naruto, though, rolled his blazing blue eyes, that caught the sunlight and almost blinded Sasuke.

"I came here to tell you we have a mission. I'll meet you at the gate in ten minutes."

But, he became insecure when the other boy (man?) just stared at him, saying about nothing at all. Seriously, what was going on? He nodded slowly towards Sasuke, looking for any kind od response.

"Ah, uh... yeah. Remind me to never wake you up again, ne?" he laughed nervously. "See ya down there then. We won't be gone for long, so no need to bring any clothes more than for a night. Ja."

He quickly jumped out of the window and made his way through the town. Sasuke had been staring at him one too many times now! And it wasn't until he landed on the ground beside the Konoha town gates that he discovered he was bleeding. But the wound was small and was already healing with the power of the Kyuubi.

-O-

Sasuke was shaking so much that when he dressed; he had trouble tieing his hitai-ate to his forehead.

He could have killed the other boy. He was so near. What if Naruto wasn't such a skilled ninja, what if he'd been just half a second slower? Or Sasuke a second faster? He felt tears in his eyes and his sight became blurred. He really needed to confess to Naruto soon. Maybe he would, if this was an easy mission. Or maybe it was better to wait. Yeah. Maybe.

He grabbed his bag -which he always kept packed and ready- and checked his weapons. All set. Time for a mission with Naruto and a pair of blue eyes.

TBC

-O-

So that's it. Moving on…

//Shikams


	4. Chappie 4

A/N: I often forget to say that I do not own Naruto. I wonder if I'll get sued...

This chapter was really hard to write. I got stuck in the middle, somewhat.

No school tomorrow, or the day after tomrrow, or on Wednesday, or on Thursday... Mohahaha! Holidays are great xD

Ever heard of Breaking Benjamin? Great band. Great music. Great, great. Bored already? Oh well, I guess you can start reading then. If not, then have patience. I'll be back in the end... there's a song by Breaking Benjamin that's called "Until the End" you know. Try listening to them sometime. They're so good (hope I didn't say that earlier?)

Nah, enough of me.

--O--

Chappie 4

--O--

"So…where are we going?"

Sasuke stopped with his foot an inch above the ground, frozen in a step. Naruto gulped. Sasuke slowly turned his head to stare at him.

"You didn't read the mission scroll?" His voice was far too deadly for Narutos liking.

"Well I... I thought that it... would be rather... unnecessary... if you already read it and… well…"

Sasuke sighed.

"Can you even read?"

"Of course!" Naruto replied, only a bit hurt.

"Then do it!" Sasuke threw him the scroll, which Naruto with great pains finally caught. He muttered something that could barely be heard and started to read the miles-long scroll. Sasuke chuckled softly and looked at his map. It would take them almost the entire day to reach their destination, Earth country. It was a difficult mission disguised as an easy. Somehow. Sasuke glanced at Naruto. He was walking with a heavy wrinkled forehead, reading. Looks like he's reading Latin or something.

"O-oi, dobe! Watch ou-"

Naruto looked up a moment too soon and walked right into the branch that hung over the road. He landed back with an expression of agony and surprise. Sasuke suddenly felt the urge to laugh out loud. But he didn't. Sasuke wasn't like that. Sort of. So he bit his lip and lent him a hand instead.

"Baka."

--O--

They reached the entrance of the rather small village where they were going to pick up a very important scroll for Tsunade. A group of ANBUs would've looked very suspicious, but Naruto and Sasuke- who was as good as any ANBU, by the way- looked more like lesser ninjas. Well, at least Naruto did. The thing was that the scroll was of great importance for the Hokage, and the Leaf village. Something of a conspiracy, for sure. They had limited knowledge, probably for their own sake. And it was also of great importance that the scroll made it safe back to Konoha. They couldn't risk sleeping and leave the scroll for others to steal, so Sasuke figured that they'd better get some sleep now and get it in the morning. Even though they were skilled ninjas, he didn't want to make any mistake due to just a little lack of sleep.

"Let's stop and find somewhere to sleep."

Naruto looked like he wanted to protest, but then just nodded. Sasuke was the leader. They went a little deeper into the forest, so they weren't that very near the village, and found a suitable glade with a little stream of water. It was all very beautiful in the sunset. But the trees hid the sight of the fighting sun. Naruto glanced at the map in Sasukes hands and quickly shook off his backpack and ran off, deeper into the forest. Sasuke blinked once. Twice. And then called after him. When he didn't return or answer, Sasuke curiously followed. That Naruto! Why did he always… do things like this! He fought his way through some bushes and suddenly stepped out into thin air. He was so focused on finding and following Naruto that he didn't pay attention to his surroundings. The feeling of flying didn't last long though.

Naruto grabbed Sasukes arm before he fell over the edge of the cliff. It was more of a reflex than anything else. He quickly pulled the other boy into safety, holding him tight against his chest. When his heart had slowed down a bit, he gently let go. Sasuke was also a bit shaken, but he didn't say anything. Though his heart was bumping like mad. Narutos' chest were rock hard and warm. Who could have known?

"I didn't think that you were so careless, teme," Naruto said, a bit distant

"I wasn't-"

But he didn't finish his sentence. Before them was the most beautiful scene. It was sunset. They were standing on a high cliff. Funny. He thought. I didn't get the feeling that we were climbing. This must be why Naruto looked at the map before he ran off. He must have known that it would be beautiful to watch the sunset from a cliff. But then his thoughts wandered off and the scenery beneath them filled up the empty place in his mind. The clouds were coloured in pink and orange. The sky was marvellous, going over from pink and bleeding red in the south, to dark blue and starry in the north. Mountains and forests were also coloured by the setting sun, and made a beautiful contrast to the otherwise plain landscape. But this wasn't what caught Sasukes eyes. Yes, it was all very stunning, but seeing it reflected in Narutos' bue eyes … Sasuke couldn't tear his eyes away from them. The wind played with his hair and clothes, making him look more like a God walking the earth than a human- a demon host. Sasuke fought with himself, tried to tear himself away from the young man before him. At last, he was able to look away. But not without feeling like someone had stabbed him in his stomach, with a red-hot knife. He loved. He glanced hastily at him again. But it didn't seem like he had noticed. Thank goodness.

Little did he know that Naruto had noticed. Again.

"I just had to see this." His voice was low and not at all like him.

Sasuke snorted. A loud growl from a certain belly told him that Naruto was hungry.

"Lets' go back and eat."

Naruto sighed and followed Sasuke through the bushes, back to the glade.

--O--

"Are gonna' eat that?"

Sasuke blinked and looked down on the bowl of ramen in his hands, and back to Naruto who, with puppy eyes (all innocent and adorable), was looking at the bowl too. He shrugged and carelessly handed it over to Naruto. It wasn't like he needed it anyway. But he could feel himself melting, and that wasn't good.

It was dark around them when they finally finished their dinner. Naruto yawned and stretched out on his blankets. Amazing how that boy adapted. One minute he was all hyper, and the other, he was as sleepy as a little… something. Sasuke sighed. He wasn't tired. So he sat there for some time, staring at the fire and thinking. But if he really let his mind wander, he could see tails and cat eyes of fire in the burning wood. He blinked. Yeah, maybe he was a bit tired.

He pulled off his shirt with a yawn and lay down on his blankets. He glanced at the bundle on the other side of the fire. Fast asleep, no doubt. He squirmed and tried to find a comfortable place. Damn he hated to sleep on the ground!

Naruto heard Sasuke lay down and sighed silently. Then it struck him. Wasn't this the perfect situation? Time to test Sasuke! He shifted a little and moaned with a low voice, and then tilted his head to the other side. The sounds coming from the opposite side of the fire stopped. Naruto resisted the urge to grin. So, he had Sasukes attention. Good. He sighed deeply, and patted his back mentally. Now, what kind of things would a supposed asleep person do?

--O--

Sasuke froze when Naruto made some strange noise. Was he… dreaming? He used his sharingan to see through the fire and to the other side. Hm. Weird. He started struggling with his blankets once again, only to be interrupted by the sound of cloth rustling. And it didn't come from his side. He glanced over at Naruto. The boy had almost shaken of his blanket entirely. Sasuke was now staring at a bare leg and a bare (and very muscular) chest. He swallowed hard. Naruto threw his head back and forth and muttered something. Sasuke felt like rushing over and finding out exactly what he was saying. But he settled with a blank stare.

--O--

Naruto peered through his eyelashes. He couldn't see anything, although he wished. He wondered how Sasuke looked like right now. He parted his lips slightly and moaned a little louder while turning his head from side to side. Silence. More?

--O--

Sasuke watched with horror as Narutos hand moved up to his thigh, and the other behind his head. He was whispering something, almost panting… He gulped and shook his head fiercely. He wasn't going over there. Not a chance. And if Naruto would wake up, it would be hard to explain the nosebleed.

--O--

Naruto shifted his body a little, so that his hand rested on his inner thigh and his head rested against his right shoulder. He spread his legs a little wider apart and kicked his blanket off entirely. He mentally crossed his fingers and hoped that his behaviour didn't reveal the fact that he wasn't really asleep. And of course, he didn't realize that Sasuke had moved until he was by his side.

--O--

And surprisingly, neither had Sasuke. His breath hitched when he suddenly found himself so close to the very irresistible boy. His body had moved on its own acord. He clenched his fist and gulped. He was trembling now. Heavens know what he wanted to do to the sleeping kitsune. He reached out to stroke his chin, but then quickly pulled back. Oh, he was on dangerous ground here alright. He closed his eyes, trying to calm down.

--O--

Naruto fought the urge to run this time. Run for his life. Run like hell and never stop. Run faster than no other man had ever run before. Oh, what had he gotten himself into? Sasuke sat quietly by his side. What was that genius mind of his planning? He sat close enough for Naruto to smell him. He was unable to move, to react. His heart bumped like mad. He tried to breathe slowly and even, to look relaxed and so on. Though he was as tense as a piece of plank. And worst of all, Sasuke was moving!

He prayed to whatever almighty power that was out there that Sasuke wouldn't try something on him.

...But when he felt his blanket being pulled over him, he almost frowned. He'd been waiting for Sasuke to tuck him in like a baby? Jeez! He was almost disappointed in the Uchiha! ...Or not. Oh what the hell. He didn't know his own feelings anymore

--O--

When Sasuke saw the adorable face in the flickering, fading light of the fire, he was suddenly filled with so many feelings and emotions that he didn't know what to do. But he did know that the last thing he wanted was to wake Naruto up. So he gently pulled the blanket over Naruto and went back to his side. So many emotions at one day really got to him. He needed sleep. Badly now.

But Naruto lay sleepless for a long time.

--O--

They took off their hitai-ates (-or forehead-protectors-) before entering the village. They didn't want any Stone ninjas to get suspicious. They were too close to Stone anyway to feel safe, so they kept their weapons. But the village seemed friendly and somehow joyful. The smell of daybreak mixed with newly made food - and not to mention ramen, made Naruto more hyper than ever. He tried to look at everything at the same time. His eyes were with glittering and had the size of golf balls. Even though it was a small village, the market was a lively place with many foreign ninjas.

Sasuke left Naruto behind as he found the place were their contact person should be. It was a small alley, and apparently the invisible border between the slum and the wealthier area. To think that there were slums even in a small village like this. A pink sign with blue text, saying "Ran's vegetarian meatballs", were hanging forgotten above a broken window. A warm, but pleasant, breeze blew through the alley. Sasuke winched as the sign began to swing back and forth with a piercing sound. Even though the sun stood high in the sky, the alley hid shadows. And now, a shadow slowly separated itself from the rest. Sasuke put up his bored face (Kakashi would've been proud!) and leaned against the cold stonewall.

The shadow turned out to be a man, dressed in beggar's clothes and with a patch over his right eye. His one eye peered at Sasuke. When he spoke, he voice was harsh and deep, it sounded like stones being scraped against each other.

"Remember friends as you pass by...as you are now so once was I..."

Sasuke raised his eyebrow.

"You don't really go with that anymore, seriously?"

The man tilted his head and grinned with his sharp teeth.

"How else would you know, hn?"

Sasuke sneered at him.

"You have a nasty sunburn there" He leaned closer and put up an ironicly stupid face. "Oh, but somehow... Your forehead... it's all white. You could think that the man before me use to have some kind of ...cloth... tied around his head. Could it be so that, this man, usually wears a forehead protector...?"

The man laughed, and his voice was suddenly much more pleasant.

"That's all? I could have been deceiving you"

"Of course that's not all there is. But the rest is my secret." Sasuke tapped two fingers at his right temple and grinned faintly. The man scratched the back of his head.

"Well, that's all good, but..."

"You would like me to say the password anyway."

"...Un. You could be deceiveing me."

Sasuke snorted. But he was actually a bit relieved. This person wasn't a fake. Every sign pointed him being the contact they were supposed to meet. And he had that birth mark on his thigh that the scroll said he would have. The sharingan was very useful sometimes.

"Remember friends as you pass by, as you are now, so once was I. As low as I you once must be." He glanced over at Naruto across the street, and his blue eyes. "So ready yourself and follow me." He found himself almost whispering the last words. Whoa, was he getting sentimental?

The contact smiled and nodded. Sasuke grimaced. "To think that they would take that lame old love poem as a password for such a mission."

"Hn. But it's not really a love poem, you know. It's more of a... poem of friendship."

Sasuke frowned. Maybe he was right. He looked at Naruto again and sighed. "Yeah, whatever." The man must have seen where he looked, because he asked if "that blond boy" was with him.

Sasuke nodded.

"Is he... reliable?" The man sounded unsure. This wasn't so strange, since Naruto was standing beside a stall with ramen, talking with the much too cute girl who was selling it. Naruto was literary hanging over the counter and drooling, with a silly dreaming look. The girl was blushing. She must believe that the blond, handsome boy with whiskers marks on his cheeks was drooling over her. Poor thing. Though Sasuke couldn't stop himself from glaring deadly at her, just because she even dared thinking that.

"Yes. As reliable as anyone can be." He looked up at the little bit of sky that could be seen in the dark alley. He then whispered, more to himself than to anyone else. "...As reliable as the next Hokage can be..."

They changed items and quickly went separate ways. Sasuke hurried over to Naruto to save him from any misunderstanding with the ramen-girl.

"Oi, dobe."

Naruto didn't seem to be listening to him. Sasuke sighed and leaned his head against Narutos' back. He didn't seem to notice, that dobe. He wanted to be home before night fall, but could he deny Naruto the pleasure of... looking at foreign ramen...? It appeared that the girl had lost interest in the strange boy, and was now looking at Sasuke with large eyes. He smiled hastily and looked away.

"Naruto!" He was about to smack him on the head when it hit him that the girl hadn't moved. And that look in her eyes... He froze. Oooh no. Hell no. He head to move fast. He threw his arm around Naruto's waist and pulled him out on the streets again. There, he used a short-distance teleporting jutsu. They were at the entrance of the village in two seconds.

When he let go of Naruto's waist, the boy landed with a yelp on the ground.

"What the hell teme?!"

Sasuke shook his head.

"Fan girls."

Naruto gulped.

"We better get going."

"Whoa! How about the scroll then?!"

Sasuke sighed and pushed him forward.

"I got it while you were drooling like a fool over that ramen. You had a lake of saliva by your feet, but you weren't even aware of that."

Narutos' surprised look was to say laughable.

Sasuke looked over his shoulder and shivered. Beware of the fan girls!

TBC

--O--

A/N:

I'll start writing on the next lil' chappie right away. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter.

And thanks a lot for the reviews, they always make me smile.

Ja ne!


	5. Chappie 5

So, it's me again (applause). Chappie 5 is finally here (omg)

Oh, and sorry for the late _(extremely_ late) update.

And yeah, I guess that the sunset part in the last Chappie was a bit of a cliché… yeah… But I think that there's a time in every authors life that you write much or only that sorta stuff. Everybody goes through it. Oh, but less drama (emotions) and more action (fun stuff)! Waaai!

Mooky...that's so sweet! Can't wait for the mice to arrive (it's mice, right? Not mouses, mices?)

Oh, _great_. I got nail polish on my keyboard… Argh!

---------

**Chappie 5**

"Hokage-sama?" Shizune poked her head into the fifth's office. It was empty. She frowned and went in, looking around the messy room. She had a pile of papers in her arms, and was balancing them with great skill (and experience). The hokage wasn't here? But where could she have gone to? There were no bars opened this time of the hour, right? She looked around the room (even underneath the desk), just to be sure. But the hokage was no where to be found.

"Aah, Tsunade-sama! What should I do about these reports now?" She stood there for a moment, and then darted out of the office with angry steps. When she'd closed the door and the sound of her steps was long gone, a very nervous Hokage stepped out from behind a filing cabinet. She sighed and sat down on her chair, with her feet on the desk.

"Yare yare, she's like a blood hound sometimes. To think that the fifth should need to use a camouflage jutsu just to get some peace once in a while. Keh!"

She opened a drawer and pulled out a sake bottle, muttering to herself. Looking around, as if she expected someone to be spying on her, she gulped down the first glass. When nothing happened (that is, when no Sizune or Sakura popped out of any drawer yelling "surprise!"), she poured up glass two.

"Tsk, Tsunade Obaa-chan! What would Sizune-san say if she saw you now?"

Tsunade choked and turned around to find Naruto on the window-ledge, grinning like an idiot (which he is).

"Oi brat! What are you doing on the Hokage's window-ledge?!"

Naruto looked down, as if he just noticed that he actually sat on a Hokage's window-ledge. He shrugged and jumped down on the floor.

"Better?"

"I swear, Kakashi has bad influence on you!"

Naruto's smile widened.

"Any missions for me today?"

Tsunade glared at him and sat down again.

"Iie, neither for you nor Team 7"

Naruto looked at her as if she was speaking another language. The Hokage sighed.

"You've been quite busy. I figured that you might need some rest. Besides, there aren't many missions for ninjas of your level anymore."

Naruto pouted, but then leaned out of the open window which he'd entered through and closed his eyes as a gentle breeze blew through Konoha and played with his hair.

"Whatever you say, Obaa-chan"

The not so flattering comment made Tsunade glare at him again, but her face softened when she looked at the happy young man. By this age, his body had grown and he looked more like a man than the boy he really was inside. He was tall, taller than the average shinobi. His hair had grown too, and Tsunade feared that he would be the very image of the fourth in time. _Well, it wouldn't be_ that_ bad. Besides, he's still Naruto. _It was as if Naruto sensed the almost melancholic and sort of proud thoughts, because he slowly turned his head to look over his shoulder at the elder woman.

"A-anou? Obaa-chan? W-why the weird face?"

Tsunade woke up from her daydreaming and shook her head in disbelief.

"Iie, nothing. I'll notify rest of Team 7. So why are you still here?!"

Naruto grinned and saluted her before jumping out of the window.

"I was never here!"

Tsunade chuckled and turned her attention to her sake bottle once more.

* * *

Naruto walked peacefully through Konoha. The weather was hot, but not unbearably. It was actually quite pleasant. And this was why Naruto felt so happy. He liked to be happy about those small things. It made life so much happier. (Which was quite logical). He stopped to look through a shop-window at the brand new kunai-model. Very expensive, but the design was amazing. It was longer than most other kunais, and flat. The sign underneath the prototype said that it was easy to throw, and -because of the material (and the design) - unbreakable in close battle. He pouted and sighed. Like he could afford that beauty. All white too. Unlike the ones he had now, just plain grey and ugly. Maybe he could paint them. Yeah, that would be nice, wouldn't it? He continued to walk, with enthusiastic steps this time. In a bright orange colour! Hai, hai! Brilliant! Shock the enemy!

* * *

Sasuke was bored. He had no idea what to do today; still, he knew what he would end up doing. Training, always training. Even the Uchiha avenger could get tired of training sometimes. He'd tried to avoid it all morning, but his feet seemed to move on their own, unfortunately. He sighed and brought out his kunais as he approached the training areas. Could life get any more boring? Nah, probably not. 

He'd chosen training ground number 7, because it was furthest away from everyone else that were out training today, and started throwing kunais, trying to hit a red ribbon that someone tied around a small branch. He wondered why it hung there. Had someone forgot it or lost it nearby, and had someone else picked up, maybe hoping that the owner would find it? How come the owner didn't find it then? When you lost something, you go looking for it… right? He stopped. One of his kunais had hit the ribbon, the rest were scattered in a circle around it. He lowered his arm, still holding a kunai in a tight grip. From this distance, the ribbon looked a trail of blood. Like the tree was bleeding.

He snorted and walked up to the tree. He sighed and pulled the kunais out of the tree branch. But when he tried to pull out the one in the middle (the one which had pierced the ribbon), the weapon didn't want to come out. He frowned and pulled harder, but it was stuck. He was beginning to feel bad about the ribbon, very much alike the lonely stone he took in the other night. And he didn't wasn't that to happen again! Embarrassing. He grabbed the dagger with his both hands and tried to bend it out. It didn't work. He snorted again and leaned against the tree. Well, there wasn't like there was anything he could do about it. He slid down so he sat with his back against the tree, with his legs crossed. Why did this stuff happen to him?!

Keh! He closed his eyes and sighed. How a person could be so bloody bored was a mystery to him. Was it even possible? He took a deep breath and stretched his senses in different directions, just to see what other people were doing. Hm, Iruka sat under a tree outside the academy, reading a book. Kakashi was sitting on a branch above him, _not_ reading a book. _I wonder if Iruka is aware that Kakashi is spying on him. Probably not. _He felt Hinatas chakra torrent not far from where he was. She must be training with Neji, but he wasn't really sure. They were sparring and using too much chakra that he couldn't decide person number two. He tapped his fingers at the ground and groaned. No fun person this far. He turned his attention a little further away, and found Naruto running towards him. His eyes snapped open and his heart missed a beat. What did Naruto want from him? Half a minute went by, and then he could see him at the far side of the field. All sweaty and panting… His t-shirt was wet through and stuck to his body so that you could see his muscles work as he ran. Last nights dreams came back to him, and it felt like someone punched him really hard in his stomache. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as Naruto came closer. Sasuke watched Naruto as he looked up through long eyelashes, his eyes widening in surprise when he saw his team mate and rival. Sasuke could do nothing but stare as the dazzling creature walked up to him while wiping sweat from its face. Naruto sat down beside him and tried to catch his breath (Sasuke was still speechless, by the way.) Not paying much attention to Sasuke, Naruto lay down to rest his head on Sasukes legs.

"Running five times around Konoha sure gets to ya, ne?"

Sasuke nodded stiffly. If Naruto found it strange that Sasuke was so quiet, he didn't say anything. Not that Sasuke usually talked very much… Naruto closed his eyes for a moment, and Sasuke turned his head to look at a very interesting crow in a tree not far from where they sat. He forced himself to stare at the crow and not at the now yawning boy. The crow reminded him of Kakashi. However that was possible. It looked rather bored. And its shoulder was slacking. Hm, well, he had more important matters to spend time on. Like Naruto. Most important of all, he wondered if it would always be like this. If Naruto would grow up to be Hokage, make his dreams come true and find some nice girl to take care of him. The Fifth was old (but it didn't stop her from being more violent than ever) and who knows, maybe she would decide it was time to retire soon. Naruto had a great chance of becoming the sixth. What would happen then? Sasuke would barely be able to meet him, for sure. Team 7 would be no more. It was a sad thought, somehow. And Naruto would probably have a personal fan club himself, girls hanging all over him… Sasuke shuddered. He'd already seen some girls drooling over him when they had ramen the other day. But when Sasuke glared his most hostile glare ever, they had the sense to back away. He was lucky that Naruto hadn't noticed. But they would be back. Oh, yes, he'd seen their faces! This was only the beginning.

And it was all unacceptable. He was going to be able to make a real bond with Naruto, a bond that went far beyond friendship, the bond he'd longed for so long. He'd have to be fast and convincing.

So, he would have to hurry and admit his feelings before Naruto became Hokage. If he did. Which he would. In time.

… He would have to seduce him before that happened… But how the hell do you seduce someone like Naruto…?

For the first time in his life, Sasuke did not have an answer.

"Maa, Sasuke!"

Sasuke snapped out of his (well, not _so_) evil and mischievous thoughts and turned his attention to Naruto.

"What?" Damn, why did he always sound so cold?! But Naruto didn't seem to care.

"A taijutsu fight, what do you say?" Sasuke stared at him for a while.

"With you?" _Oh, yeah, clever. Dumbass_. He didn't know what it would take to win Narutos heart, but acting dumb sure wasn't a part of the plan.

"Hai."

Sasuke shrugged and stood up.

"Why not?"

Maybe some movement would help him think. And it was better than training alone.

"And no Sharingan!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"You said taijutsu only, right? Baka." When Narutos glared angrily at him, Sasuke chuckled and walked past him to the middle of the field. "Jealous?"

"I am not! You and your cursed clan!"

The words stung a little, somewhere in his abdomen. But he put up a false grin and turned around at Naruto, who'd followed him.

"Hn? What's this? I thought the Hokage was supposed to love everyone in the village?"

Naruto glared at him again. And so suddenly he attacked, using his fists. But Sasuke was prepared and easily blocked the blows, and the next ones.

So how on Earth would a man seduce Naruto? He was about to make a high jump in the air to avoid Narutos foot, but reminded himself not to use any chakra in the last second, and he barely escaped with a hole nose. He turned a somersault (A/N: First time ever that I use this word, did it come out right?) and had to duck to avoid another fist.

Flowers wouldn't work, or would they? Naruto wasn't a romantic person. Or was he?

Damn the boy was fast! He ducked once more and grabbed the fist which had come out of nowhere and pulled Narutos arm so the boy flew forward, losing his balance. What a beginner's mistake. Jeez.

Hm…in other words, he knew too little about Naruto. Had he been in any kind of relationship before? How did he act around… well… gay people?

Naruto successfully blocked Sasukes kick and caught his leg in an iron grip. This gave Sasuke no other option than to do the twist-and-wriggle-and-kick, which meant that he used his other foot, in this case his left, to push himself up in the air and at the same time turn and kick with his left leg, making the one holding his right leg let go of it to block the left leg. The only problem was that Naruto didn't let go, and his blow landed over Narutos ribs. Sasuke fell to the ground, and Naruto finally let go of his leg. Sasuke assumed that Naruto would start with his blows and kicks again, so he stood up and turned around, ready to block anything. But Narutos had bent over his knees and breathed with difficulty. Maybe he'd hit a little too hard. Sasuke carefully took a step forward, and when he spoke, his voice was filled with concern.

"Naruto? Oi, dobe? What's wrong?"

Naruto swallowed hard and stood up. He had something that looked like tears from pain in his eyes, but they were soon gone when he attacked Sasuke again.

"That fucking _hurt_, you bastard!"

No, Naruto wasn't romantic person.

Sasuke was about to say something humiliating back to him, but Naruto attacked with much more strength and speed this time, and he could barely block, less attack.

So if he wasn't a romantic person, what kind of person was he then? The kind of person you get all sweet and mushy with…? Naah. Unbelieveable. Yeah, that was a possibility he could exclude. And he was sure that Naruto wasn't the "stop talking and just fuck me" person either. Sasuke shot forward, seeing an opening in Narutos movements. But when he reached out, he grabbed nothing but air. He didn't understand what happened next, but he suddenly found himself flying and eating grass. He blinked and tried get the dirt out of his mouth, holding up his hand as a sign to Naruto that he needed a pause. He coughed stood up. Naruto was breathing hard while rubbing his ribs, hissing as he touched an especially sore point.

"Two minutes break"

Naruto nodded and sat down, pulling his t-shirt over his head. Sasuke tried not to stare as he sat down too. It helped to have sand and dirt in his mouth, because then he would at least have something else to think about. But when he happened to glance at Naruto, he saw a very blue bruise spreading across the left side of his chest. Had he really hit _so hard_?

"Sorry 'bout that" He mumbled and brushed off his clothes. When he looked fairly clean, he stood up once more, too restless to sit down.

"Nah, it's nothing", Naruto said and shrugged it off. He, too, stood up and put his shirt back on.

Hn, he was a heroic type. That could be tough in the future.

"Maybe we should stop."

Naruto glared at him.

"I'm _fine_, thank you, and I don't need a nanny"

"I beg to differ"

"Jerk."

"I could beat you in a second, you're in pain."

"Oh, aint you the confident one!"

Sasuke shot him an irritated look. That boy could be a pain sometimes.

"Go see Sakura. I'm off."

He stuck his hands in his pockets and left the training ground. He didn't know if Naruto stayed behind, but he didn't follow Sasuke.

_A teasing, provocative three-year old. A man who's good looking like a… a something. A bright and open human being. An honest one. Someone with great physic and an even greater body. What do I get if I mix these things…what kind of person would I get? _He stopped to think for a moment. _I'd have one helluva sex-god, for sure. _He nodded to himself. Naruto was his, no exception.

---------

A/N:

So, hoped you all enjoyed this chapter. I've been trying to write it for two weeks, but it just didn't come out right. I had to erase two pages and re-write them. All I knew was that I wanted to have a fight in this chapter, no matter how short, stupid or ridiculous. Was the fight okay? Was it confusing?

I hope that you weren't disapointed about the lack of blue eyes in this chapter. I thought Sasuke needed a break.

And I see now that this chappie is very short. Hm. I need more free time and less homework.

Yeah yeah, but anyway, thank you for staying with me throughout the story. Until I see you next time (which I hope will be soon), be careful out there! (My music teacher says that all the time...)

Ja ne!

//Shikams


	6. Chappie 6

Gomen, minna-san!

It's been far too long since last time. I've kept you waiting…well, my computer hasn't been so cooperative these last weeks, and when I finally got the damn thing working again, I somehow in some way I can't understand ERASED the pages that I had been struggling with. A good thing is, those pages weren't as good as the new I wrote after them, so you could say it was a blessing.

Yeah well, I could give you thousands of reasons why I haven't updated recently, but none of them will make you any happier. Thank you for your understanding.

I've tried to make this chapter longer and a bit better than the earlier ones…

Well, on you go now ♥

Oh, and, I don't own Naruto, or any of the characters. Though Hayai is one of mine. Mwahaha.

Some time has gone since the last time we saw Sasuke and Naruto, just so you know. Nothing important.

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Chappie 6

– o –

Konoha was unusually quiet. The kids of the academy weren't out training taijutsu, or throwing kunais at each other. The popular playground in the centre of the shinobi village was empty, except for a stray dog, and the chains of the swings creaked a little in the wind. The restaurants were empty too, and so were the shops, supermarkets and bars. The only thing that could be heard was the never-ending sound of pouring rain. And when it rained in Konoha, it really rained. The skies had opened up, and the raindrops were heavy.

Though after several months of drought and a lot of nasty sunburns, the villagers of Konoha welcomed it with open arms. People opened up their windows and devoured themselves in that special smell of summer rain. The villages had always appreciated the nature, and it was only natural for them.

And the rain also gave them the opportunity to socialise.

A couple of jounin teachers sat in one of the many teacher rooms of the academy, playing cards. These rooms worked as hideouts for tired teachers who needed to escape snotty nosed kids for a minute. Kakashi was often seen in these rooms, and he was a very skilled card player. But he wasn't there today, and said jounins drew a sigh of relief because of that.

"Ah-HA! I bet you can't beat that!"

Izumo threw his card at the table so that the others could see. Four queens stared back up at them, with their fake smiles, petite figures and low cut dresses. The pack of cards they were using wasn't really suitable for children. Iruka would have fainted if he knew that they were using that sort of cards at the academy, and they most certainly would have got the most horrible scold of their lives. But as it was, Iruka was busy teaching children and avoiding the bored copy-nin. Kakashi seemed to only know one way to keep him busy during rainy days. And it didn't include teaching Team 7 anything.

"What the fuck 'Zumo?! How do you do it?!" Genma's senbon threatened to fall out of his mouth as he stood up and yelled at the other jounin. Izumo snorted.

"Skills."

"SKILLS MY ASS!" Genma sat down hard and threw his card at the table with a groan. He had a pair of fives. "I'm so fucking sick of losing to that bloody bastard."

Yamato rolled his eyes at the now pouting jounin. "You're such a baby sometimes."

He stood up to get some coffee, only to find the pot empty for some reason. It didn't look like it had been used for a long time.

"I'm not a fucking baby!"

Yamato frowned and stood up to get the can where they kept the instant coffee, but found nothing in it but a dead spider. Plastic. He threw the can away in a corner with a disgusted look on his face. He'd been a part of this weird circle of jounins for a long time, but that didn't mean that he'd gotten over their way of living. Seriously, how can a person live without coffee? And on a rainy day?

"Yes you are, a sulking, pouting and very childish baby," Kotetsu replied when Yamato didn't say anything. Genma glared at him, but decided to show just how mature he was by staying quiet.

"Well, I can't say I blame him. This game bores the hell outta me," Anko said dryly and stood up, heading for the door.

"You're leaving?" Izumo sounded like he couldn't believe his eyes -or his ears. Anko gave him a dry look and slammed the door shut behind her when she left. Izumo blinked, his brain trying to keep up with the words and actions of Anko. He shook his head." Is she…Is she always like that?"

Yamato shrugged and sat down, chewing his lips in lack of things to...well, chew on. His body screamed for coffee.

"You know Anko…" he said, sighing.

"No, not really."

Yamato's shoulders slumped. Trying to explain Anko's life philosophy to a person like Izumo (or any person, when he thought about it) wasn't something he looked forward to. Though before he could start his teaching, Genma grinned evilly and put his arm around Izumo's shoulder, suddenly forgetting his anger and the sulking mood he was previously in (as the baby he really was). Kotetsu glared suspiciously at him.

Uh-oh. Yamato sank deeper down in his worn down armchair. He certainly didn't think that jealousy went well with deadly jounins. And it was common sense that Genma needed sexual activity every now and then (every 30 minutes or so), but Raidou wasn't here to provide any of that kind. Anything could happen now.

Genma rubbed Izumo's shoulder and sighed very dramatically.

"Well, Anko is Anko. She's a woman. Thus, very scary." He thought or a moment, then added. "Extremely scary, actually."

"Oh yeah?"

"Un. Have I told you about that time, you know, when she discovered Jiraya peeping on her?"

And when Genma started talking, there was no way possible to stop him, unless using violence. Yamato had stopped chewing on his lips and began eating on his fingernails. He measured the distance between himself and the door to be too far away for him to reach without gaining every ones attention. In other words, he couldn't escape the room. And Kotetsu was going to snap any minute now.

Genma was presently stroking Izumo's back. Izumo's eyes were wide in disbelief. Some of the things about Anko were just too unbelievable. Yamato pinched the back of his nose. Izumo was just all too naïve sometimes.

When Genma reached up to whisper something in Izumo's ear, something that for someone who did not watch very closely could be misunderstood for a sexual gesture, and not a friendly one, Kotetsu had had enough. He jumped over the poor coffee table (which remarkably only had three legs – but that's not the point here) and in two seconds; he had Genma in a stranglehold and had pushed him up against the wall, literary ripping his boyfriend away from the senbon sucking jounin.

Yamato curled up in the chair, actually too afraid to do anything (and totally forgetting that he was superior of these three jounins).

"You bastard- you little son of a…!"

Genma gasped for air as he tried to grin slyly, talk and get some air in his lungs at the same time.

"What the hiss hell, Ko? -cough- I was only -repeat- being friendly…ya know!"

"You stay away from my boyfriend-"

The door creaked as someone slowly opened it. The two jounins froze, and Izumo (who'd been hanging from Kotetsu's arm in an attempt to stop his lover from ripping Genma into tiny little pieces), stepped away. Kotetsu acted like he never even noticed him (which he probably hadn't either).

Raidou, soaked to the bone by the rain, entered a deathly still room. He pulled back his hood, quietly judging the situation. There was no doubt he'd figured out what had happened when he locked his eyes with Kotetsu, who looked like he was about to whimper like a hit dog. Raidou was to say the least scary looking with his hair hanging in stripes in front of his face where the hood hadn't covered, and his black, wet coat along with his tall figure was enough to give one nightmares.

"Kotetsu. Let go of Genma."

The sudden word made everyone in the room jump, but Kotetsu let go and moved over to sit down on the couch, dragging Izumo with him down in his lap.

Genma gulped.

"Genma. Sit down on the floor. Not a word."

"But-"

Raidou growled, and Genma snapped his mouth shut with a loud clap. Putting down a plastic bag in the table, Raidou went to dry his hair and take of his wet coat. Yamato realized that he'd been holding his breath. Breathing normally once more, he reached out to scour through the stuff Raidou had gotten for them. Ah, at last some coffee. Raidou sure was a nice guy.

As Yamato stood up to make his coffee, Genma had a hard time sitting still on the floor. His eyes began to wonder and he thrummed his fingers against his knee. Though, when Raidou came back, Genma stopped and sat down with him on the couch. Kotetsu still glared at him with Izumo in his lap. Yamato returned to his armchair with his coffee. The room was suddenly very quiet.

Izumo coughed.

One could hardly believe that the men sitting in the small teacher's room were part of the top ranked shinobis in the village.

"I hear the two Hyuugas…like each other," Genma tried.

"Hn."

A minute went by. A minute can seem very long, you know. Izumo coughed again.

"Kiba and Shino are still together," Genma tried again.

"Really?"

"So I've heard."

Kotetsu frowned but didn't follow it up. As another painful minute went by - Izumo tried his hardest not to cough.

"So… the Uchiha still hunts for foxes, I hear?"

This time, Raidou nodded half-heartedly. "Ah… I saw him, pressed to the fox's window like a smashed fly yesterday"

"I wonder if he knows that he's being watched. The Uzumaki, I mean."

Izumo nervously looked around the room while the others were talking. "Should we really discuss that sort of thing here?"

Genma snorted. "Well, half of Konoha already knows about it. The Uchiha's being so fucking obvious! He's done all but written a love song, and Naruto stills acts like he have no idea of what's happening."

"Hn. But maybe he doesn't have."

"Wouldn't surprise me."

"I just hope that that arrogant bastard – uh, I mean, Sasuke – don't mess with him too much. I feel somewhat responsible for Naruto."

"Maybe we should keep an eye on him, just to be sure. We wouldn't want him to murder Naruto in a way to show his affection."

Yamato stared at Genma wide eyed. Genma shrugged. "Well, since Itachi is his brother, I just…"

"That doesn't make any sense at all."

"Oh, fuck it."

– o –

Yamato rolled his eyes for the, what? Third, fourth time? He suddenly got it his courage back. Must have been the coffee.

"Yeah, whatever, but if we're gonna…uh…'keep and eye on him' – the Uchiha, that is – we're gonna need a good reason for it."

Genma nodded with intensity.

"Well, he almost beat up some girls that were looking at Naruto-kun some days ago. That's pretty heavy. The girls were civilians, on top of it."

"Hn. Did he do something to Naruto?"

"He was damn near!"

"Waddya mean?"

"Naruto smiled at them! The girls! And Sasuke went all… ya know. Scary. Crazy. Ya know"

"Don't repeat yourself, dammit. It's annoying," Kotetsu snarled. Genma glared at him.

"Yeah, yeah, but what Genma said could be a problem. He'd being damn possessive, Sasuke. That is a problem," Izumo pointed out.

"Damn right it is."

Raidou, probably the one person who had the most logical mind of them all, shrugged and said casually:

"Then it's decided. Someone will follow our lovesick friend, and at the same time make sure Naruto's okay."

The jounins nodded sadly. Outside the rain stopped.

The silence lay thick. Well, until Genma broke it once more, that is.

"…Did you buy cookies?"

"No, I didn't, Genma."

"…Fuck you"

– o –

As the rain stopped, people found their ways out of the houses. The rain had lasted three days, and there was work to be done that could not wait. The sun broke through the cloud barrier, and the rain and the shattered pools of water were soon merely memories. Naruto, who'd been out on a mission with a couple of chunnins when the rain came and went, had some free time, and he gladly spent that time wandering around Konoha. The little voice in his head told him to train, but he might meet Sasuke then, and he wasn't sure that he wanted to see him right now. He'd been acting so weird the last couple of weeks. So he ignored the little irritating voice and went to compare his orange kunais with the ones Kiba had gotten. And after that, maybe he would get ice-cream. Or ramen.

– o –

The consequences of trailing people

– o –

Sasuke was trailing Naruto. Yes, he'd made a habit of it, ever since the incident with the civilian schoolgirls. Naruto was his, even if he had to sacrifice his free time to find out how to seduce him. Well, it was a cheap price for something that good.

And he liked the way Naruto's ass looked when he bent down to pick something up, maybe a coin that someone accidentally dropped right where Naruto were going.

He grinned to himself and ducked behind a corner to a café. Naruto had turned around, probably feeling Sasuke's dark eyes in his neck like any good ninja. When he didn't find anyone suspicious, he went back to was he was previously doing; staring through a shop window. It was a book shop, surprisingly. Seriously, Naruto and books?

Sasuke leaned against the wall and sighed. The rays of the sun, streaming through the waves in his golden hair like that…

"Oh, look, there's Naruto! Sakura, look!"

Sasuke's head turned around so fast that he thought it would fly off. Sakura, Tenten and some other girls he recognized to be genins was sitting around a table by an outdoor café, actually the café which's wall he was using to cover himself. Were they talking about his Naruto?!

"Yeah, it's Naruto alright," Sakura replied to the girl who spoke first.

"How's he like?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there's this strange rumours and stuff about him"

"Really?"

"Mm-hm! They say that he is strong enough to surpass the Fifth soon"

"Strong enough maybe, but smart enough? Doubt it."

The girls giggled, very girly like. Sasuke clenched his fist (for a second forgetting that he, too, used to mock Naruto about his IQ).

Sakura coughed and bit her lip so she wouldn't start laughing when she continued.

"But seriously. Yeah, he's strong. And handsome. And cute, too, actually. You should see him when he's asleep! Makes you wanna hug him like a teddy bear!"

Sasuke froze. How the hell could she know that? Another girl, with orange hair and hair band, sighed and stared openly at Naruto's back.

"He seems like such a gentle person."

Sasuke could hardly keep himself from snorting.

"He has a lot of stamina, too." The girls turned to look at Sakura, who grinned slyly. "You know, he can go on for a long time before he becomes tired, no matter what he's doing." She blinked to Tenten. The brunette looked at Sakura with her mouth open. Sasuke felt dizzy. Could they be…wasn't Sakura suggesting that she and… and Naruto…He shook his head rapidly. No. No! Sakura was a good girl. Good girl.

"Oh?"

A girl with black, almost blue hair stared at her nails and said shyly:

"Yeah, it gives room for fantasies, ne?"

Sakura pursed her mouth and looked like she might hit the girl.

"Don't you think that you'll ever get to live out those fantasies," her voice had become cold like ice, and the girls stared at her.

Sakura gave them a deadly look and stood up. Tenten did likewise, and they left the café. Sasuke saw Naruto leaving in the same direction, so he would be able to follow both him and hear what the girls said on the same time. He had to find out what Sakura meant.

"I thought you didn't care for any other boy than Sasuke, Sakura."

Tenten looked at her friend curiously. Sasuke zigzagged across the street, hiding behind the dustbins and trees that he found along the way.

"Un. But I kinda like to keep Naruto as a safety measure. If Sasuke… you know. Decides he likes someone else. Besides, I think I like him a bit already…"

"Ah."

"Anyway, Naruto is still so madly in love with me, he would do anything for me."

"Ah-huh."

"Yeah, remember that time when I had… an urgent problem, and he 'helped' me?"

Tenten grinned. "Don't you think he did it for himself more than you?"

Sakura shrugged. "Maybe. But I liked it."

Sasuke stopped. What was she talking about? He didn't understand a thing! Was he paranoid if he thought that they were together, been together? That was absurd. That girl was brain-dead. Hah. He watched the two girls walk down the road, suddenly not in to mood for more trailing and eavesdropping. He had a funny feeling in his gut.

"Oi, Sasuke!" Sasuke froze. He'd forgotten Naruto.

The boy waved and sat course for him from across the street. Sasuke's heart thumped madly against his chest. What an idiot he was! He'd stopped in the middle of the street. He started sweating. To believe that Naruto and Sakura... No, no…it was his Naruto!

"You alright, teme? You seem a bit-"

Sasuke acted on impulse. He grabbed Naruto's sleeve and almost threw him into an alley that by a very curious coincidence happened to lie nearby (or that is, a couple of meters away). Naruto ducked instinctive, but he couldn't escape Sasuke's grip. He soon found himself held up against a dirty wall by a very muscular arm and a pair of red sharingan eyes, staring right through his cerulean ones. He gulped and tried to squeeze himself out of the deadly grip, but discovered that it was futile.

"S-Sasuke…!"

"Have you done her?!"

Naruto stared at him for a second. Or two.

"What are you talking ab-"

"Have you done Sakura?!"

"NO!"

The beautiful blue eyes glared angrily at him, they were furious and it felt like they drilled a hole through his skull. He blinked a couple of times. Those eyes made him unsure of what he was doing. They were accusing, and he flinched, trying to both get away and hold Naruto against the wall. Was he going insane? What was he doing? He let go of the boy and stepped away. Something in the back of his mind bothered him. Something...A small chakra flow, somewhere to the left, too small to actually be noticed. Yeah, that was it. Someone was watching them. Someone had seen him doing this to Naruto. He didn't waste a second and disappeared in a blur of blue.

Naruto had slid down the wall when Sasuke let go of him. He frowned, massaging his neck. First he molests me, than he disappears without a word - what the hell's wrong with that guy?!

"Naruto? You okay?"

Naruto yelped, very un-manly-like. Izumo was kneeling beside him, looking very worried. Naruto shook his head rapidly. What was going on? This is crazy, is everyone after me? When I get my hands on that Uchiha…

Then he remembered that Izumo had asked him a question, and by shaking his head, he'd made him really worried. He blushed a little when the older jounin examined him with his eyes, from his dirty clothes to his tousled hair.

"Yes! Yes, I'm fine."

Izumo eyed him suspiciously.

"Hn. If you say so."

Naruto stood up shakily. He started brushing off his clothes, muttering nonsense to himself.

"Wha? Oh, yeah. That's what I say." Then he suddenly looked up at Izumo. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

Izumo smiled at him.

"Just passing by."

– o –

Flower Power

– o –

Two days after the little incident, Naruto was still wondering about what would have cause Sasuke's' strange behaviour. But he was as close to an answer as Kakashi and his porn books were apart. He felt uncomfortable about the whole thing. And he always tried to avoid the boy when they met, which, fortunately, wasn't often. He didn't follow up his promise "when I get my hands on him", but instead ran like a frightened rabbit every time Sasuke was even mentioned. Why on Earth would he ask such a question?

"Have you done Sakura?!"

Naruto sighed. Yeah, like that would ever happen. A pink hair appeared in the crowd. Sakura was on her way to the Hokage, probably. Maybe he should ask her, if she knew anything about Sasuke's…change of personality. Then again, what would she say if he, out of the blue, blurted out if she had any idea why Sasuke wondered if they'd had sex, him and Sakura? Naruto liked his nose too much to ask that. Because she would surely misjudge the whole situation in some girl-way and decide that violence was the best option. Naruto so didn't understand women.

So instead, he set out for the academy building in hope of finding a genin team that adored him. He needed that.

But when he got there, a sign hanging loosely from the entrance door told him that the ones he sought – the happy little next generation- were out camping and preparing for this years chunnin exam. Naruto felt like someone dropped a stone on his head. He sat down on the swing where he spent most of his breaks before he was teamed up with Sakura… and Sasuke. To think that that old thing were still here.

He sighed. He had so many memories from this place. They weren't always happy ones.

Sometimes, when he thought about his childhood, he longed back to those times. The times when he didn't need to worry about teen problems, or being in love and wondering whether he really was or wasn't something. He shook his head, as if he thought his messed up thoughts would go away if he wished hard enough for it. They didn't.

He wished he was small again, so small that he could sit on some ones lap and be petted and nursed by some gentle hands. Part of him wanted to be young enough that he would not understand or give a damn about the glares and snorts from certain people. The other part wanted to be old enough to prove that he wasn't what they thought he was.

And he had no idea were these sudden and depressing thoughts came from.

Maybe, if he sat here long enough, he'd actually wake up by the sound of Iruka shouting at him for not being able to concentrate in class. He would scratch the back of his head sheepishly and laugh. And life would continue to be normal, as it never was anymore. He would be small again.

Or he'd never wake up, and sit here forever and rot, until no one even remembered him anymore.

"Naruto? Why are you here?"

…Or Shikamaru could step down from heaven and save the day. Naruto looked up at him and smiled.

"Just…remembering the old days, that's all."

Shikamaru, holding a huge pile of papers on his arms, closed the door behind him and sent Naruto a frown.

"Huh."

"What do you have there? Is it something fun or just mission reports?"

"Since when can a pile of papers be fun?"

"Good point."

Naruto followed Shikamaru around as he left his papers at different houses and mansions. The pile slowly grew smaller. They didn't say much to each other, Shikamaru because, well, he wasn't much of a small talker, and Naruto was just enjoying the company. He got a little happier by just being beside Shikamaru. When there were two papers left (statistics over the progress and/or retrogress of the academy soon-to-be genins-brats), both Naruto and Shikamaru felt their stomachs growl of hunger. The papers were to be delivered to the Hokage, but neither of them could deny the fact that Ichiraku's Ramen were only a little detour away. Shikamaru shrugged and gave in to Naruto's pleading look.

They sat down beside each other and Shikamaru brought out his money. Naruto studied Shikamaru's face as he went through his pockets, looking for his wallet. No money meant no ramen. But then again, Shikamaru wasn't someone who misplaced things, he was just lazy. Though Naruto drew sigh of relief when the brown and very small, wallet appeared in Shikamaru's hands. The top grade jounin gave him a dry look before proceeding. An almost invisible frown indicated that he didn't like whatever the content of his wallet was. An almost inaudible sigh indicated that he had waged the options and that he gave in to the fact that he was going to end up with no money before the day was over. When Naruto heard the word ramen, he clung on to the person like a leach.

"Two miso-ramen, I suppose"

If Naruto would have had a tail, it would be wagging like crazy.

Later –much later actually– they slowly walked down the streets of Konoha again, with the two papers in Shikamaru's shoulder bag. There weren't many people out at this time of the hour.

Naruto felt much better, not only because of the ramen. Underneath that bored, somewhat cold façade, Shikamaru was an underestimated good guy. Nice, friendly, funny, smart, calm and kinda handsome actually. Naruto glanced at him. They didn't have time to hang out like this anymore; Shikamaru's duties kept them apart. He was an active member of the Konoha Security Council and an excellent teacher. His students had all emerged (A/N:?) from academy to ANBU-tests with the highest score possible. It was ironic, that the lazy boy had so much to do that he was drowning in mission reports, sitting up to midnight to finish them, as he told Naruto. But Shikamaru was a genius.

Naruto on the other hand didn't have permanent jobs like that. He was always on the list over possible jounins for the long range missions, and he'd substitute without hesitating when one of the academy teachers weren't able to make it. He loved kids; they never held any grudges against him. Yeah, when he got older, he would have a large family. He glanced at Shikamaru again when a sudden thought hit him.

"How are things between you and Temari?"

He realized too late that it was sort of rude to just spurt it out like that. He mentally smacked his head. He had to learn to control his tongue sometime. Really smooth Naruto. Really.

Shikamaru turned to look at him. Naruto felt, to his disgrace, how all his blood rushed up to his face, and wondered if Shikamaru would notice anything in the poor light. Then he shrugged and said: "Things are… not so good. She stays with her brothers for now."

Naruto felt a tug in (A/N: is it in or at, or something else?) his heart. He didn't know if it was because he felt sorry for his best friend, or if it was because of something else. He figured it to be the first. He wanted it to be.

"Oh…I'm sorry to hear that."

"Nah. She'll be back. She too much of a pain in the ass to just go away like that."

"…Yeah, right."

Naruto tried to smile. But it didn't reach his eyes. He was scared. He was afraid of what that tug could have meant. He was afraid of exploring.'

He shook his head. Oh no, too many deep thoughts in one day caused burned out brain cells, and he wasn't sure that he had any to spare at the moment.

They were approaching their destination, talking about the time when the sand shinobis came to participate in Konoha's Momo Sekku -Kankuro said something about Sakura's kimono, and she left him hanging from the roof of the Hokage tower-, and Shikamaru was just saying how troublesome that had been when Naruto froze. A familiar chakra caused Naruto's' mental alarm to go off. His senses told him to run. Shikamaru cocked and eyebrow when Naruto seemed to hesitate.

"Problem?"

Naruto squirmed, but started walking again.

"Uh…not really. Just Sasuke."

Naruto got the feeling that Shikamaru wanted to ask more, but he kept quiet. When Sasuke came in view, he was standing outside the Yamanaka flower shop. The shop was still open, and some of the flowers were standing in pots just outside the door. The poor light from the lamps and sign above the door centred Sasuke, and it was hard to look anywhere else than at him.

Both Naruto and Shikamaru frowned. Sasuke just didn't match with something as innocent as flowers. Sasuke turned around as they got closer and something that to Shikamaru looked a lot like irritation, and something else he couldn't name, past through his eyes before they got that arrogant look in them again. Shikamaru knew that it meant something.

"Bonsowa-ru, Sasuke."

Naruto jumped at the sudden sound. Shikamaru's voice was as bored as ever though. Sasuke glared at him.

"Hn."

"Thinking of buying a flower?"

"None of your business."

Shikamaru gave him a dry look that said 'why even bother?' "Guess so."

Sasuke turned his back on them, and Naruto released the breath he'd unconsciously been holding.

"Maybe we should get going. Ne, Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru appeared at first as though he didn't hear the question, but then he smiled (something he seldom did) and nodded.

"Yeah."

Naruto smiled back and hurried past Sasuke, taking the lead. They had only gotten a couple of meters away, though Naruto was beginning to feel safe, when Sasuke's voice broke the silence.

"Quite an odd evening for a date."

Naruto stopped and glanced at Shikamaru before turning around and smiling shakily.

"We-we're not on a-a-"

"No? You were so smiling like a fool back there, so I really thought you were." He turned around to face Naruto. "Such a happy face, Naru-chan."

"H-happy…face? Naru-chan?!?!"

"Yeah, you know, a couple of minutes ago?"

"What the fuck are you talking about!?" Naruto stared with his mouth wide open at Sasuke, as if he was talking Greek.

"Just wondering what Shikamaru did to make you look so pleased."

"Are you crazy or something?!" Naruto almost screamed. Then he remembered something. "And how the hell do you know how I looked earlier? Have you been spying on me, crazy bastard? Is it forbidden to smile all of a sudden?"

Sasuke didn't move an eyelash.

"Well, Naruto's right. Why don't you tell us-"

"So that's why you haven't done Sakura?" Sasuke asked, sneering and totally ignoring Shikamaru.

"WHAT?!"

"You like Shikamaru, isn't that why?"

"You're fucking sick!"

A fierce staring-competition begun between the two rivals. Shikamaru look back and forth, for once thoroughly bewildered and confused. And he couldn't help but feeling that he was somehow the origin of this heated conversation.

"Bastard."

"Dobe."

"Maybe…" Shikamaru started, but then again, neither of the boys seemed to remember his existence, or at least, they didn't acknowledge it.

"Don't you dare look at me like that, teme!"

"Why, something bothering you? I'm right, aren't I?"

"No! Shikamaru and I are friends!"

Shikamaru stared at them. Kids. Three years old, at the most. When they paused to catch their breaths, he took the chance to speak up.

"It's getting late. I should hurry with these reports." He waved the two remaining papers in front of Naruto, desperately trying to gain his attention. "I'll leave you two alone."

"No, I'll come with you."

Shikamaru shook his head. "No need to do that. I'll fix it. You finish here."

Naruto almost looked sad for a second.

"Oh…okay."

Shikamaru was just about leaving when Naruto called after him.

"Let's have lunch tomorrow, ne?"

"I'll be in the mission room all day. Pick me up there," Shikamaru said, raising his hand in a goodbye-wave.

"Great!"

Naruto missed it, but Sasuke was boiling of rage behind his back. Those eyes shouldn't be twinkling like that for somebody else than him. But he forced himself to calm down as Shikamaru's back disappeared behind a corner.

Naruto sighed, knowing he had to deal with the bastard behind him sooner or later.

"So what's the problem, Sasuke? You're acting so…"

His voiced trailed off. Sasuke was sitting on the ground beside a flowerpot –it looked like tulip, but it was hard to tell in the poor light. Naruto's first impression was that he was killing it. But then he realised that Sasuke was only poking it and gently stroking the petals. His black hair fell into his eyes, but Naruto got a quick look at them. They had a harmless, wondering sort of look in them. That boy's temper seemed to change as quickly as the weather in April. Though the things he was going to say disappeared from his mind just as fast. The bastard wasn't seriously thinking of buying a flower, now was he?

"What are you doing?"

Sasuke ignored him and shuffled over to another flowerpot. When he spoke, his voice was filled with the concentration worth an A-rank mission, and his eyes never left the new flower he'd chosen.

"Tell me, if you're thinking of giving a flower to someone, what kind should it be?"

Naruto couldn't answer for a minute, and he made no effort of hiding his disbelief. Sasuke was asking him for flower-advice. Out in the open. He looked up and down the streets a couple of time. What the hell, it wasn't Candid Camera, was it?!

"Uh. I dunno. Hell, I've never given away a flower." He thought for moment. "Or gotten one either, unless it was because I was hospitalized. How should I know?"

When Sasuke didn't say anything, he sighed.

"I guess…I guess that if you're giving away a flower, the flower should…ya know…symbolize your feelings in some way."

This time, Sasuke turned around.

"You're not being very helpful here."

"Well excuse me; I'm not the one asking stupid questions."

"No, but you're the one giving stupid answers."

Naruto growled as Sasuke went back to whatever he was doing with the flowers. After a while, he sighed again.

"Okay. You know what I think? I think the flower should represent both parts in the relationship. Like, if the one you…uh…like…favourites the colour pink, and you, p'haps, blue, then the flower should be part red and part blue. If there is such a flower. You know?"

Sasuke slowly stood up, brushing off his dark pants.

"For once, dobe, you actually got something to sound really good."

Naruto's eyebrow twitched.

"Is that a compliment or an insult?"

Sasuke chuckled softly and gave him a smile before walking away, without saying anything else.

Naruto felt like someone had knocked the wind out of him. Sasuke may be a bastard, but when he smiled, he was down straight handsome. Naruto was used to his smirks, but his smiles were a whole other thing. Naruto felt the same thing as when Shikamaru said that he and Temari had taken a break – a tug in his heart, though much stronger this time.

The door to the shop suddenly slid open, and Ino burst out. She looked up and down the street several times before walking up to a confused Naruto.

"Naruto! Was Sasuke-kun here just now? I thought I heard his voice!"

She must have awesome hearing if she heard those few words he spoke, Naruto thought, chuckling at her strange behaviour.

"Sasuke? Yeah, he was here. He was looking at your lovely flowers, asking me which one he should buy."

Ino stared at him.

"Ha ha, very funny, Naruto. You could've just said no."

She rolled her eyes and went back in. Naruto had a hard time staying quiet. As soon as the doors slid shut, he laughed so much that his stomach hurt.

– o –

Bad-Luck-Day

– o –

The next day didn't start out well for our favourite blond demon host. Naruto figured that since the last day had been what he would've thought good, someone from up above didn't want him to get spoiled, thus haunting him with bad luck now. 'Cause it had to be bad luck.

The ironic thing was that when he woke up, he felt that this day, this day, was going to be even better than yesterday. Wrong.

He woke up in time. Hell yeah, the alarm went off exactly six' clock. His watch was a mystery to him. Sometimes, the alarm went off in the middle of the night. Sometimes it decided that it didn't want to go off at all.

This had given him quite a bad reputation, especially in the mission room, were the chunnins and jounins in charge were betting of when he'd show up – or if he'd show up at all (sometimes the Hokage got him first).

The reason for which he did not just kill the damn thing and throw it in the garbage can was because one:

He didn't own a garbage can.

two:

It was a kind of principle of his that one should never throw away something that was still functional, dammit!

And three:

He was broke. Therefore very unable to buy a new one. Sure, the missions he took on and mostly completed gave him money. Just enough for his ramen diet for a few days, maybe a new kunai now and then and sewing thread for his torn clothes. His way of the ninja was a though one.

So he'd groaned, turned the clock off and untangled himself from the sheets. That's when the bad things started happen.

Opening his wardrobe, frightening empty shelves stared back at him.

'Laundry! I bloody forgot to do my fucking laundry!!! This is so not good…'

He spent the morning flying in and out through his rooms, trying to find something decent to wear. He found a t-shirt which said 'Eat – Sleep - Ramen', which stains and spots were only partly visible. Looking around for something else to wear over, he found his chunnin vest in a dusty corner. After some airing, it wasn't fully as dusty as before, and it fit him well after all

those years when he hadn't asked for a new one. He used a pair of his training pants to cover his lower parts. He made it out of that crisis. Next was breakfast, but a quick look at his watch told him that breakfast was a luxury he could only dream of. He would have to make it until lunch, with Shikamaru. That made him a little happier.

Grabbing an apple, he went out, locking the door behind him. He took a bite of the apple and made a grimace. He hated old apples. They were too soft, and the peel was all wrinkled. And the taste -musty and rotten- was enough to make him shudder. But figuring he needed something at least, whether it was an old apple or grass from the ground, he was just about to take another bite when a worm crawled out of it. He cried out and let it go. Shrugging the sudden surprise off of him, he sped up while telling himself that that hadn't been a bad omen. Oh no. This was going to be a splendid day.

– o –

Iwashi was handing a mission scroll to one of his comrades, chatting a little and catching up with his old friend who he hadn't seen for a while, when the door to the mission room flew open with a loud bang. All the ninjas in the room -about five jounins and eleven chunnins- jumped a bit at the sudden sound. A man stood in the doorway, leaning on the door post like he would fall if he didn't support himself on it. Sixteen pair of eyes watched him as he slowly made his way to Iwashi's counter. His arm was decorated with something that looked a lot like claw scratches from a cat, his eyebrows were gone, and that probably had something to do with the ash in his face. His clothes were a mess too.

He was dragging himself across the floor, and the room that for a minute ago were filled with lively chatting, was now filled with nothing but silence.

Iwashi leaned back a bit when the young man finally reached the counter. He smelled like…like something nasty. His face was one that had seen many bad things, and gone through even worse.

"Uzumaki Naruto. Is there a mission for me?"

Iwashi nodded, mouth gaping. Was this the Naruto? He searched through his papers while Naruto leaned heavily on the counter. Handing the young man a paper for him to sign, Iwashi gathered enough courage to ask if he was all right. Naruto stared at him and then shook his head.

"Never been better…"

Iwashi nodded, not really sure what he meant, and took the paper Naruto had signed.

"There aren't many missions, but one is substituting at the academy-"

"I'll take it!"

Naruto's eyes were glowing red, and Iwashi gulped, nodding once more.

"S-sure. You start at eleven."

Naruto looked up at the ceiling and barely moved his lips when he spoke. "Gives me time to change…maybe I'll do that too…no, wait…yeah, I think I'll need that…" Iwashi blinked at the man as he seemed to be talking to himself. Then Naruto looked at Iwashi again, with a strained smile. "Great!"

Naruto took the scroll that Iwashi handed to him, only swaying a little when doing so. The blonde young man saluted the older jounin and made his way out of the room again, showing them his back, which was filled with something that could be tomato soup. Iwashi wasn't sure. But he appeared a little less tired and broken. He was an odd man.

Just as everyone started to relax and chat about the strange boy -or the jinchuuriki as they called him- the doors opened once more, though only a little bit, and Naruto poked his head in. Iwashi, who didn't really understand anything in general, blinked again.

"Umh, excuse me?" The young man said to gain every ones attention, which wasn't needed, because everyone was already looking at him. "Is Shikamaru here?"

It was quiet for a couple of seconds.

"No." A chunnin said when no one else would say anything. "He's been sent on a mission. A far-away one, I think. He won't be back today. P'haps the day after tomorrow." A chunnin said when no one else would say anything.

Naruto frowned.

"When was this?"

"Early this morning. I was the one who gave him the mission. It was requested by Tsunade-sama."

Naruto looked down and scowled.

"Fuck."

He was gone the next moment, and the doors shut themselves. The mission room was soon filled with loud talk among chunnins and jounins. Iwashi shook his head. His first impression of the demon host everyone was talking about was a tiny bit messed up.

– o –

Naruto took his time walking home. People stared at him, his torn and dirty clothes and his claw scratches. He felt like was a century older than when he woke up this morning.

First, it was the clothes that he'd forgotten to wash. Then it was the apple and the worm. The rocket that some stupid brat accidentally aimed at him. The cat he somehow managed to step on, and then were forced by the owner (a big woman, more than a head taller than Naruto) to catch it again (it ran away), and while he was struggling to hold on to the clawing cat, he fell into a vegetable stall. On the tomatoes, to be more exact. When he handed over the cat, the woman stepped on his foot, and when he entered the building just now, his fingers got caught on the door, which he held up for a pretty kunoichi.

And now, Shikamaru had abandoned him. He sighed. When he was at his apartment once more that morning, he pulled out his key. Turning it around in his lock, he didn't hear the click he was used to, but the sound of something breaking. He paled. Withdrawing his key, he found that was broken. The rest of it was stuck in the lock.

"YoubloodysonofafuckingmetalSHIT!"

Furious, he threw the rest of the now useless key on the ground and stamped on it, while swearing. He turned around when he heard a gasp. Two soon-to-be genins stared at him, wide eyed, alongside their mother, who desperately tried to cover the ears of her daughters. The problem was that she only had two hands, and there were two pair of ears. Naruto spurted out an apology, but the mother had already ushered her daughters on, glaring at Naruto.

He surrendered.

When Raidou found him, he was beating his head against the door.

"Ow," the jounin observed, watching Naruto.

Naruto lifted his head to give him the tiniest of smiles before going back to the head-beating.

"You know you lose 200 brain cells by hitting your head on that door only one time?" Raidou leaned on a rail that in its grey beauty decorated the path up to the apartment building. "How many brain cells do think you've lost by now?"

Naruto gave him a sour look. "You know I'm not a good mathematic."

Raidou chuckled. "So what's happened to you? You look terrible."

"Nice to see you, too," Naruto mumbled. Looking at the older jounin, he saw that the man was still waiting for an answer. "Seriously, you don't want to know."

Raidou cocked an eyebrow, but decided to let it go. The boy obviously didn't want to discuss the matter just now. He nodded toward Naruto's back, which was covered in something red. "Anything hurt?"

Naruto grimaced. "Does this count?" he asked and pointed at his forehead, where a large bump were forming.

Raidou chuckled. "Well, it's not like it's anything of importance, then, is it?"

Naruto glared at him. "Just what I needed. Someone like you to cheer me up."

He walked past the older man. He knew he had a spare key hidden somewhere around here, he just couldn't remember where…

Raidou watched under silence as Naruto went through every possible and impossible spot where he could have hid his key, whispering curses as he went along.

Raidou tilted his head, nibbling his lower lip. Maybe… he nudged Naruto's doormat with his foot. Kicking it aside, he found a rusty old key under it. Seriously, Naruto was an idiot. He picked it up and waved it in Naruto's direction.

"Oi, Sherlock! Is this what you're looking for?"

Naruto looked up. His face lit up at once, as if someone set it on fire. "My key! Where the hell…" his voice faded. Then he nodded slowly. "Oh…under the doormat, huh? I have to remember that one."

Raidou sighed. He didn't even bother saying anything.

Naruto was by his side in a flash, grabbing the key from his hand and putting it in the lock in a matter of seconds. Only, the key didn't fit. Naruto shook his head in disbelief, trying by force to make it.

"No, no, no! Why the-?"

He then remembered how he'd bought a new lock a couple of weeks ago, and how the new spare key was lying on his table. He hadn't figured out a place for it yet. Naruto turned around to the not too surprised Raidou, fixing his eyes on his shoes.

"Anou…you don't have some clothes that I can…you know…borrow?"

Raidou grabbed him by the shoulder and steered him down the street. "You're a lucky guy. I have a spare uniform that should be your size. I don't like throwing useful things away."

Naruto rolled his eyes. He was anything but lucky.

He looked at his watched and sighed. If he was lucky, he would be at the academy, ready to go teaching when his shift started. But, then again, it didn't seem like it was his day today, to say the least. He doubted he would get there this year.

– o –

A pair of red eyes watched as Naruto and Raidou entered the house Raidou shared with Genma. They watched as Naruto took of his vest and shirt, and then disappeared into another room with Raidou. An animalistic growl broke the silence…

– o –

Dressed in Raidou's old uniform, Naruto pulled the handle to the teacher's room. He had five minutes to get ready and come up with something to get the brats attention with. He usually started with a story of some kind (often about some of his achievements – not too far away from the truth), and then he had the whole class's eyes on him. He smiled. Last time, a little girl came up to him when the rest of the class went home. She had given him a little red paper-heart and run away. That had warmed his heart. Maybe this day would have a happy ending after all. But when he walked through the door to the teacher's room, he was met by two pair of serious eyes. Frowning, he recognized Genma and a chunnin, a woman named Hayai. She had helped him on his first time at the academy. They rose from the chairs they were sitting in when he entered. Hayai gave him a sympathetic look, which set off the alarm bells in Naruto's head. He ignored them and scratched the back of his head, trying to stay calm.

"H-hi guys! W-what's up with the g-gloomy faces? Someone died?" He stuttered, his eyes shifting from one to another.

"Naruto…" Hayai began. She grimaced, looking at Genma for support.

"There's been…complaints…from parents, and we can't…Naruto, I'm sorry you have to hear this, but… you can't teach here anymore… not now, anyway."

Genma swallowed and shook his head, not knowing what exactly to say. The usually so energetic and joking jounin looked truly sad.

Naruto formed words with his lips, but it took some time before he could speak.

"W-what do you m-mean? I haven't been here…I haven't been here for a month, I never come here, I-"

Hayai took his hand, squeezing it, trying to comfort him. "I don't know who, or why…" she went quiet. Of course she knew why. Taking a deep breath, she continued. "But I'm sure we can clear this up, somehow. Though, under the meantime, you better stay away from the academy. We don't want trouble, right? We'll sort it out, 'kay?" Her voice was filled with compassion, but Naruto's mind didn't register it. He was finally ripped out of every bit of stuffing.

"Yeah…right…who would want their kids to be taught by a monster."

"Oi, Naruto! You know better than that," Genma's voice was suddenly hard, almost like he was scolding a six-year-old. But Naruto turned and walked out again, not saying anything more.

He left the academy unaware of where he was going.

Black clouds formed in the sky, making the heat oppressive, but his mind and body was numb and the only thing he felt was a pounding headache in the back of his head. He walked out on the streets of Konoha, where the villagers ran around like stressed ants, trying to find shelter for everything before the rain the clouds were promising would fall. When the first rumble of thunder shook the ground and made the windows rattle, the streets were abandoned. Naruto stopped when he reached Iruka's house and sat down by the door. He didn't know why he was there but it seemed right in some way. Though he didn't want to knock on the door. He could sit here until someone noticed him. Yeah.

"Kakashi! Did you get the laundry? I don't want it to be wet."

Naruto blinked. That was Iruka's voice. Why was he addressing Kakashi? Was he here? Why would he be?

"Ah. I'm not as dumb as I look." That was defiantly Kakashi-sensei's voice.

"No? Could've fooled me."

"…Yeah, love you too, Iruka. Always so nice towards everyone."

"Oh, sorry, did I hurt the big guy's feelings?"

"Oi!"

Naruto put his head in his hands. So this was Iruka's secret. . .Iruka hadn't told him that he was going out with Kakashi? He stood up, a bit unsteady and hurried away from there. This was too much for one day. Far too much. And too fast. He just wanted to go home. But he couldn't. He couldn't break into his own home.

– o –

Sasuke swore. Just his luck to be out when it starts to rain. He shivered when a raindrop found its way down his neck. Wonderful. Really.

One after one, the raindrops became bigger -and wetter, until Sasuke could no longer see more than a couple of meters ahead. But he could feel a chakra flow near. Who would be out in this weather? After a minute, he recognized it as Naruto's.

He stopped. The feelings he'd been trying to suppress the whole day by training his ass off resurfaced. Feelings of betrayal and anger. He'd tried to be logical. He'd really tried. But why Raidou, of all people? Why would Naruto choose someone that was so much older than him? Wasn't Sasuke good enough? And then there was Shikamaru. He couldn't believe that Naruto was the kind of person to sleep with someone and flirt with another. He could only watch as Naruto slipped through his hands like water.

Sasuke peered through the rain. He could see a dark figure a little further up ahead. He felt his hands shake, and he knew that he would do something he'd regret. He should have walked away. But he didn't, his ego got the better of him. His hurt ego, if I may add.

"Oi, dobe? Why are you out here, and not in someone's bed?"

He snorted and added: "Since you seem so fond of those sort of things."

Naruto didn't move. He didn't speak, either. Sasuke thought that maybe Naruto hadn't heard him. The rain was pouring hard, swallowing every sound.

"Or maybe Raidou wasn't good enough for you, eh? Or maybe he threw you out?" Sasuke cursed every damn word he said, but he couldn't stop himself. He had never been heartbroken before, he couldn't possibly be supposed to cope with the situation.

Just as he opened his mouth again to spit out another malicious comment, Naruto's monotonous voice interrupted him.

"Yeah, who could ever love a monster, a bakemono?"

Sasuke blinked. Something wasn't right. Had something happened? Surely, this wasn't his doing?

"I really thought people could change. I thought they'd get over it. I guess I was wrong. I'm so fucking naïve sometimes, aren't I? They're teaching their young ones to hate me too. I'll be hated by every generation."

He chuckled. "Maybe I truly am a monster. What do you think, Sasuke?"

Naruto looked him in the eyes. His blue eyes weren't blue anymore. They were as grey as the rain they were standing in. Sasuke had never seen such dead eyes before. He took a step back and looked away, refusing to meet those eyes. All the feelings he had a minute ago were washed away by the rain.

"Heh…So now you can't even look me in the eye. Well, let me tell you about my day, and then we'll see what you have to say, hm?"

The words hurt like burning knifes, and Sasuke realised how childish he'd been. His eyes widened when Naruto told him how he had to borrow clothes of Raidou. He felt cold, but somewhere, he felt a little bit of hope flow in his veins once more. Naruto didn't love Raidou, then.

Naruto's voice threatened to break when he told Sasuke that they didn't want him near the academy anymore, because the kid's parents didn't want a jinchuuriki to be so close to their dear ones.

By this Sasuke looked up, still refusing to look him in the eyes though. But he did look up. Naruto laughed as he told him about Iruka and Kakashi. The laugh was anything but happy, and it soon faded to nothing. Naruto shook his head slowly.

"I'm so pathetic."

He started to walk away, but Sasuke called him back. "You let them get to you? Now of all times?"

Naruto smiled sadly. "Yeah… 'Cause this proves it, doesn't it? No one can love a monster."

Sasuke's eyes were as hard as steel when he looked at him. "I know one who can."

"Liar."

Sasuke watched Naruto's back until it disappeared in the rain. He felt empty, but he was sure that what he was feeling was nothing to what Naruto must be feeling. He had to do something, or else he feared that Naruto would do something drastic.

Then he smiled. He knew just the thing to do. But he had to hurry.

– o –

Naruto fumbled for his key when he remembered that he didn't have any. He would have to spend the night outside. He went down on his knees by the door. The tears he'd been waiting for finally found their way down his whisker-marked chins. It was cold, and he was wet. He sat down, resting his back against the door. That was when he saw the flower. It was a beautiful one. He forgot his troubles for a second and looked curiously at the flower. It was blue on the edges, and bright orange in the middle…

TBC

– o –

I'm planning to end it all in the next chapter, where I'm also gonna tied up every lose end I've left you dangling with. Gosh, I don't understand what I just wrote.

But after this little story has ended, I have an idea of another one. A NarutoxKakashi. And another SasuNaru. And a KakaIru. And…

Since this chapter is a bit longer than the last ones, I'm expecting many reviewers to point out spelling mistakes and so on that I have made. I've gotten very useful reviews in the past, and now I've probably done some major mistakes. I'm counting on you all

Oh, and if anyone ants to see the flower I got inspiration from, please visit my profile, and I will have a link ready for you ♥

Until next time –

//Emmy


	7. No Chapter, AN

A/N

Hey, guys. This is not another chapter, I'm sorry. I was really working my ss off the last weeks of my summer vacation to get the next chapter done and update, since I was already late by then.

But I didn't finish it. 70 per cent of it is written.

I will not, repeat; _will not,_ give up on this.

But since school started six weeks ago, I haven't been able to write a single line. Except for the two one-shots I have uploaded, but that was just to keep my brain from exploding.

As soon as I can get a moment of peace, I will finish the last chapter, chapter 7. Until then, there's not much I can do. I have tons of homework waiting, screaming and yelling at me from the corner of my cursed room right now, and I won't sacrifice my grades.

I'm terribly, terribly sorry for those who've been waiting for me to update. I beg you to understand.

As I said before, I won't leave this fic like this, without an ending. Not my first SasuNaru story. Dattebayo!

Hope I'll see you soon, when I update. Hang in there.

//Shikams


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